Department for Transport

Midland Main Railway Line

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his oral statement of 25 June 2015, Official Report, column 1067-8, on Network Rail, which of the Midland Main Line speed improvement works referenced in that statement are additional to projects already committed under Control Period 5.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 01 July 2015



The Passenger Journey Time Fund could benefit a number of locations on the Midland Mainline: Market Harborough, Leicester and between Derby and Chesterfield. These are all authorised for development. Additional journey time improvements plan for Control Period 5 will be delivered through work on Derby remodelling, Kettering to Corby and Kettering to Bedford.

Blue Badge Scheme

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the clarity of the guidance given to local authorities on determining the eligibility for blue badges of community transport operators.

Andrew Jones: In accordance with the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000, our guidance to local authorities makes clear the eligibility criteria for issuing an organisational Blue Badge.   Guidance issued by the Department is clear that some organisations, such as community transport operators, are unlikely to be eligible for a Blue Badge. To be eligible they must both care for and transport disabled people, who themselves meet the eligibility criteria for a badge. It is for the issuing local authority to decide whether there is a clear need for an organisational badge rather than using the individual badges of the people that are being transported.

Department for Transport: Management

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who the members of the management board of his Department are; and how many of those members are women.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department for Transport Board consists of the Department’s Ministers, the non-executive Board Members and the senior executive team of the Department and these are list below for 1st June 2015. There are currently five members who are women. MinistersSecretary of StateRt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MPParliamentary Under Secretary of StateRobert Goodwill MPParliamentary Under Secretary of StateClaire Perry MPParliamentary Under Secretary of StateAndrew Jones MPParliamentary Under Secretary of StateLord Ahmad of WimbledonNon-Executive Board MembersLead Non-Executive Board MemberEd SmithNon-ExecutiveRichard BrownNon-ExecutiveMary ReillyNon-ExecutiveDame Colette BoweExecutive MembersPermanent SecretaryPhilip RutnamDirector GeneralLucy ChadwickDirector GeneralJonathan MoorDirector GeneralClare MoriartyDirector GeneralDavid ProutActing Director GeneralJohn Dowie

Railways: Elstree

Oliver Dowden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether a feasibility study has been undertaken on modifications to the Elstree rail tunnels; and whether his Department has undertaken a cost analysis on those modifications.

Oliver Dowden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the capacity of the Elstree rail tunnels to accommodate rail freight trains for the proposed Radlett rail freight terminal.

Claire Perry: It is the responsibility of the developers, working with Network Rail, to undertake any feasibility study, cost analysis or modifications necessary to the Elstree rail tunnels to achieve W10 gauge clearance. This forms part of the required Rail Related Works set out in the Conditions attached to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government’s approval of the planning application for the Radlett Strategic Rail Freight Terminal.

Telford-Wolverhampton Railway Line: Electrification

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure the electrification of the train line between Wolverhampton and Telford.

Claire Perry: The line between Wolverhampton and Telford is not currently funded for electrification. We are awaiting the publication by Network Rail of its Electrification Route Utilisation Strategy, which has looked at this route, among others, as candidates to be electrified. The Government expects to publish its next Rail Investment Strategy for 2019-2024 in July 2017.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which ancient woodlands are under discussion with Natural England to be added to the ancient woodland inventory of Phase 1 of High Speed 2.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Natural England will be publishing a list of woodlands near the route of HS2 Phase One to be added to the ancient woodland inventory. These are:   NameLocationHectaresBlackwaste WoodWarwickshire1.6Fox CovertNorthamptonshire1.7Newyears Green CovertGreater London1.5Fulfen WoodStaffordshire1.02Walker's SpinneyWarwickshire1.2Little Poors WoodWarwickshire1.45Big Poors WoodWarwickshire3.3Park Wood Common PlantationGreater London3.4Burnt FirsWarwickshire3.03Nr Stoneleigh WoodWarwickshire1.52Lodge SpinneyWarwickshire2.3Birches WoodWarwickshire0.5ParkhillWest Midlands2.6Langley WoodsWest Midlands1.2Fox Covert/Glyn Davies WoodNorthamptonshire5.01Little Lyntus woodStaffordshire1.4

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of trees used for ecological mitigation planting for High Speed 2 will be sourced from the UK.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The intention is for all trees to be UK grown, if possible. On the advice of the Forestry Commission and others, one third of the seed to come from the UK.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons HS2 Ltd is challenging the classification of the additional woods to be added to the ancient woodland inventory; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: HS2 Ltd has not challenged the classification of additional woodlands. 　HS2 Ltd have provided survey information and heritage information assessments of all of the additional ancient woodlands suggested to Natural England by the Woodland Trust and other stakeholders. 　This has enabled Natural England to come to their own informed conclusions about which ancient woodlands should be added to the inventory.

Taxis: Fares

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for the effect in regulation of taxi and minicab companies of increasing use of smartphone technology to calculate fares; and whether he plans to introduce legislation on that matter.

Andrew Jones: Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, including taxi fare regulation, is carried out by local licensing authorities. They have no power to determine private hire vehicle fares or prescribe how they are calculated. Private hire fares are set by licensed operators and when booking a private hire vehicle, customers can obtain a quote or estimate for a journey in advance.   The Law Commission has recently completed a comprehensive review of taxi and private hire legislation and recommended retention of the current system for setting taxi and private hire vehicle fares. The Government is currently considering the Law Commission report and will provide a full response in due course.

Department for Transport: Public Appointments

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library a list of all public appointments made by his Department between 1 January 2015 and 1 May 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Under the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies April 2012, government departments are required to publicise successful appointments, which will either be on GOV.UK or the appointing body’s website.

Railways: Radlett

Oliver Dowden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on whether either of the Elstree tunnels will need to be closed during the development of the proposed Radlett rail freight terminal.

Claire Perry: The Department does not hold information on this. It will be for the developers, working with Network Rail, to undertake any modifications necessary to the Elstree rail tunnels to achieve W10 gauge clearance; and it will be for Network Rail to assess and to schedule the necessary works.

Great Western Railway Line: Electrification

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to complete the electrification of the Great Western mainline to (a) Bristol, (b) Newport, (c) Cardiff and (d) Swansea.

Claire Perry: The Secretary of State announced on the 25th June 2015 that Great Western was his top priority for delivery.　The Secretary of State also described some of the challenges Network Rail is facing. That is why he has asked the new chair of Network Rail to put forward proposals for replanning the enhancement programme.　 The chair is due to report to the Secretary of State in the Autumn and the Secretary of State is not going to pre-empt the outcome of this report.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2015, Official Report, column 834, whether apart from the need to sell scheme mentioned that residents affected by the High Speed 2 development in Wells House Road and Midland Terrace NW10 will be entitled to support comparable with that being offered through the Rural Zones.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Rural areas will feel the effects of HS2 more than urban areas, where major construction projects are commonplace and properties relatively close to railways or building sites are often shielded from their effects by other buildings and background noise. This is why some of the assistance schemes are directed at rural areas only. However, we have gone beyond what is required by law in order to assist urban owner-occupiers.   The Need to Sell scheme is available to qualifying residents in Wells House Road and Midland Terrace. The owner occupiers of properties on the east side of Wells House Road may be eligible to claim under the Express Purchase scheme. Those affected by the tunnel underneath Wells House Road would be afforded various protections from the impacts from tunnelling, including settlement deeds.

Rolling Stock: North of England

Mr David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether all Pacer trains used on Northern services will be replaced by 2020.

Andrew Jones: All Pacer trains used on Northern services will be replaced by 2020.

Railways: North West

Mr David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether all services re-directed away from Bolton during the electrification of the Preston to Manchester line will return as soon as the electrification work is completed.

Andrew Jones: The current works at Farnworth for the electrification of the line between Manchester and Preston are planned to run until 5th October.　 Upon completion of these works, all the contractual train services between Manchester and Preston via Bolton will be reinstated.　 In the longer term, electrification of the Manchester-Preston line will enable future operators to use longer electric trains to provide additional capacity between Bolton and Manchester.

London Bridge Station

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 24 March 2015 to Question 228504, what progress he has made on considering the case for compensation for passengers using Southern Railway's Metro Line who have been affected by the regular disruption to rail services at London Bridge.

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Southern Railway on compensation for passengers using Southern Railway's Metro Line who have been affected by the regular disruption to rail services at London Bridge.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 06 July 2015



To provide additional compensation above Passenger’s Charter arrangements to passengers affected by the essential works at London Bridge would place a large additional financial burden on this and future major projects which would in turn increase the cost to taxpayers.   Work is already underway on various options to improve compensation arrangements for passengers. The trial by c2c starting from early next year of an automated system providing compensation for delays of between 2 and 29 minutes is very welcome, and it is exactly the kind of compensation system that puts passengers at the centre of the railway. We will closely monitor its implementation to see if it has the　potential to be rolled-out across new franchises.

Railways: Freight

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what financial support his Department has provided to rail freight flows from (a) Tilbury and (b) London Gateway ports in each year since 2009-10.

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what financial support his Department has provided to rail freight operations from (a) Tilbury and (b) London Gateway ports in each year since 2009-10.

Andrew Jones: Financial Support for rail flows was provided under the Rail Environmental Benefit Procurement Scheme (Intermodal) in 2009/10 and the Mode Shift Revenue Support (Intermodal) scheme in subsequent years.   The following table is an estimate of the funding awarded, including contributions from the Welsh Government, where appropriate. Year2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15Tilbury£1,230,000£1,468,000£1,638,000£1,740,000£1,415,000£1,196,000LondonGateway£ -£ -£ -£ -£34,000£603,000  As funding is awarded on a zone to zone basis, it is not possible to give an exact assessment of funding for freight flows from individual ports.  There were no awards for rail freight operations during this period at either Tilbury or London Gateway through the Freight Facilities Grant Scheme, which was closed in England in 2011.

Railways: Freight

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the future viability of rail freight services between Felixstowe and Tilbury ports.

Claire Perry: This is a commercial matter for the freight operator concerned.

Railways: Freight

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) frequency of and (b) volume moved by rail freight services between Felixstowe and Tilbury ports.

Claire Perry: This is a commercial matter for the freight operator concerned.

Railways: Freight

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many rail freight services were operated between Felixstowe and Tilbury ports in each of the last 10 years; and what volume of rail freight moved this amounted to in each year.

Claire Perry: Freight volumes are a commercial matter for the freight operating company concerned and can be obtained directly from Freightliner Group Ltd.

Uber

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives of the technology firm Uber in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The Secretary of State for Transport has not had discussions with representatives of Uber in the last 12 months.

Railways: Electrification

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the saving to Network Rail is in Control Period 5 of not proceeding with (a) Midland Main Line electrification and (b) TransPennine electrification during that Control Period.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: No decision has been made not to proceed with the electrification of the Midland Main Line and Transpennine line east of Stalybridge in Control Period 5. Both are paused temporarily pending receipt of the re-planning proposals from Sir Peter Hendy this autumn.

Railways: Fares

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2015 to Question 3925, whether the potential fares simplification that can take place on the Northern franchise without the use of flex will include regulated fares.

Andrew Jones: Fares within the Northern franchise are both regulated and unregulated so any simplification will include both types of fares.　 Whilst the Northern Invitation To Tender envisaged the use of the flex to gradually rebalance regulated fares in order to remove the sharp jumps in fares that currently occur, some fares simplification can be undertaken without the use of the flex.　 We expect to work with the future Northern franchisee to explore which alternative approaches would be most appropriate to phase out these anomalies in the long-term.

Network Rail

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department received from Network Rail a (a) final and (b) draft updated Control Period 5 Delivery Plan between 1 December 2014 and 30 March 2015.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: I refer the Honourable Member to my answer on 6th July 2015, UIN 4905, http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=4905. Following the further work referred to there, Network Rail will publish an updated Delivery Plan.

Network Rail

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current gap is between Network Rail's Control Period 5 funding and the company's expected total outlay during that Control Period.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: The Office of Rail and Road’s Final Determination set Network Rail’s total spend at £38bn in Control Period 5 (2014-2019). This covers operations, maintenance, renewals and enhancements to the rail network.　 Of that determination, around £12bn was allocated to enhancements / investment programme.   I have commissioned Sir Peter Hendy to re-plan the enhancements programme so that delivery in Control Period 5 stays within the original budget allocation.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Empty Property: Shops

Mr David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the length of time that vacant shops in town centres remain empty.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government has taken significant steps to tackle the blight of vacant shops. An important step has been to offer a temporary 50% discount to new occupants of shops that have been vacant for a year or more, thereby incentivising enterprising individuals to try out new business ideas on the high street. We have also relaxed planning rules to support entrepreneurship so, for instance, we have worked with local authorities to promote using shops for short-term “meanwhile use”, or as pop-up shops. This means that owners can take advantage of a temporary change of use to make their underused or empty premises available for businesses looking for an opportunity to try out new ideas, while ensuring vacant premises are occupied and contributing to the wider health of the high street. The Government has also taken steps to make planning use classes more flexible to allow local authorities and businesses to better respond to the needs of their communities. For instance this has allowed certain retail spaces to be converted to residential units, providing much needed homes. We have also championed the innovative use of vacant shops through the Great British High Street Competition. A number of the entrants set out the innovative ways that they are tackling empty shops on the high streets and we have promoted their examples on the Great British High Street Portal and through documents such as Celebrating the Great British High Street.

Leisure: North West

Mr David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much was spent by local authorities in the North West on sports and leisure in each of the last five financial years.

Mr Marcus Jones: Figures for net current expenditure on Recreation and Sport by local authorities are published online in the Revenue Outturn Cultural, Environmental, Regulatory and Planning Services (RO5), which are available at the following link:http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing

Community Relations

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what resources are available to his Department to undertake work promoting community cohesion.

Mr Marcus Jones: My Department provides targeted support to a range of projects aimed at bringing communities together, including an £8 million English language programme to help isolated adults learn English; £8 million to the Near Neighbours campaign to bring diverse faith communities together to help improve their neighbourhoods; and £5 million to educate teenagers about the sacrifices made during the First World War. Alongside the resources applied to such projects, we work with colleagues across government and with external partners to deliver the conditions for everyone to live and work successfully alongside each other.

Building Inspectors

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether previous audit and performance evaluation data is considered by the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register when approving a building inspector licence renewal.

James Wharton: The Construction Industry Council Approved Inspector Register is required to carry out periodic audits of the general performance of approved inspectors including their compliance with relevant regulations and the Code of Conduct. When considering re-approval applications, this information, as well as the experience and qualifications of inspectors seeking re-approval, are considered.

Temporary Accommodation

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of families with children living in temporary accommodation in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in each of the last five years.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 06 July 2015



The numbers of households with dependent children living in temporary accommodation in Coventry, the West Midlands and England, as at 31 March each year for the last five years, are shown in the table below.   31st MarchCoventryWest MidlandsEngland2011191,01036,6402012471,03037,1902013381,17040,4502014231,02043,4102015241,15048,880 This compares to the 72,670 households with dependent children or pregnant women living in temporary accommodation in England in 2005, when the total number of households in temporary accommodation was at its peak.

Better Care Fund

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities are allocating how much funding to the Better Care Fund in 2015-16.

Mr Marcus Jones: Better Care Fund Plans were agreed by Health and Wellbeing Boards and are funded jointly through money pooled by the upper tier local authority and relevant clinical commissioning groups. Both local authorities and clinical commissioning groups were required to pool a minimum amount but could voluntarily pool funds over and above that minimum requirement. The attached table sets out the total funds (minimum and voluntary) pooled by each local authority and is drawn from the plans submitted by Health and Wellbeing Boards to NHS England in 2014.



Local Authority Table
(Word Document, 28.35 KB)

Starter Home Initiative

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on rolling out the Starter Homes initiative; and how many homes he expects to be available under that scheme by the end of the year.

Brandon Lewis: The Government is committed to building 200,000 Starter Homes over the course of this Parliament, to be offered exclusively for young first time buyers at 20% below their market value. The Housing Bill will take forward legislation to ensure the delivery of Starter Homes.

Housing Completions: Greater London

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the housing completion rates were in (a) London, (b) the London Borough of Lewisham and (c) Lewisham, Deptford constituency in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: Statistics on house building completions in England, London and in each London borough, including Lewisham, are published in the Department's live tables 253 (annual) and 253a (quarterly), which are available at the following link: http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building These figures exclude other sources of housing supply such as conversions. These statistics are not available by parliamentary constituency.

Housing: Greater London

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much the average house price has risen in (a) London, (b) the London Borough of Lewisham and (c) Lewisham, Deptford constituency in the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: Statistics on house prices in England, London, London boroughs and constituencies are published by the Office for National Statistics at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=House+Price+Indices

Communities and Local Government: Press

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to which periodicals and newspapers his Department subscribes; how many copies of each such periodical his Department acquires; and what the cost of subscribing to such periodicals was in 2014.

Mr Mark Francois: The Department subscribes to Swets Information Services Ltd and Jones Yarrell Leadenhall Ltd for our newspapers and magagines. We spent £18,762 in the financial year 2014, a 25% saving on the previous year.I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 16 January 2015, PQ 219568, which outlines the Ministerial Group subscriptions and also cites the answer of 13 June 2013, Official Report, columns 386-7W, which outlines the significant savings delivered on spending in this area since 2009-10 (£113,308) and to the answer of 15 July 2013, Official Report, Column 501W, on the savings we have made across departmental periodicals as a whole.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Nigel Huddleston: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the National Planning Policy Framework for onshore wind projects of under 50MW takes precedence over new considerations to be applied to proposed wind energy developments issued on 18 June 2015.

Nigel Huddleston: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will amend the National Planning Policy Framework for onshore wind projects of under 50MW.

Nigel Huddleston: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the National Planning Policy Framework for onshore wind projects of under 50MW has been changed since 8 May 2015.

James Wharton: I refer my hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 June, HCWS42, which is the most up to date expression of planning policy for onshore wind energy development.

Housing: Cumbria

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will allow Cumbria County Council to receive revenue from the new homes bonus.

Brandon Lewis: Cumbria County Council does receive funding from the New Homes Bonus. The allocation for the year 2015/16 was £1,324,888.

Local Government Finance: Cumbria

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support his Department plans to provide to Cumbria County Council to make up their funding shortfall.

Mr Marcus Jones: I don't agree with the premise of the hon. Member's question. This Government is providing local authorities with the tools they need to grow their economies and rewarding authorities which support new businesses and housebuilding including Cumbria. Cumbria’s spending power in 2015-16 is £406.6 million, only 0.5% less than in 2014-15, and it will gain £1.3 million through the New Homes Bonus and £0.8 million in retained business rates income above the expected level. We recognise the additional challenges faced by the most rural authorities in delivering efficiencies and transforming services and have provided £1.1 million in Rural Services delivery funding to Cumbria in 2015-16.

Non-domestic Rates: Cumbria

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will take steps to allow councils in Cumbria to keep funds raised by business rates from the nuclear industry.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Business Rates Retention scheme allows local authorities overall to keep 50% of the business rates collected within their area, including from the nuclear industry. Our Manifesto committed to promote localism by allowing councils to keep a higher proportion of the business rates revenue that is generated in their area.

Families: Disadvantaged

Mr David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.77 of Autumn Statement, Cm 8961, what progress he has made on further integrating services by developing and extending the principles underpinning the Troubled Families programme approach to other groups of people with multiple needs.

Greg Clark: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Affordable Housing

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 3462, what steps his Department is taking to increase the supply of affordable social housing; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Construction

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of houses to be built in the UK in each of the next five years.

Brandon Lewis: My Department does not produce forecasts of houses to be built in the UK.

Social Rented Housing: EU Nationals

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on requiring social housing providers to verify the length of residency of citizens from other EU countries.

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how he intends to prohibit (a) social housing providers and (b) housing associations from accepting as residents citizens from other EU countries who do not meet the criteria of a four-year residency before accessing social housing.

Brandon Lewis: The Government will introduce a new residency requirement, so that EU migrants cannot be considered for social housing unless they have been living here for at least four years; and made clear that this would be taken forward as part of wider EU treaty negotiation on welfare changes.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Nigeria: Chemical Weapons

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received of napalm bombing taking place in Biafra land, Nigeria.

James Duddridge: We are aware of recent military activity in the south-east region of Nigeria and also of allegations made, in certain media outlets, of a napalm attack on a community. We are currently seeking more information, but the reports of the use of napalm appear to originate from one source and remain unsubstantiated. In addition, pictures of alleged victims of the attack have proven to be from other incidents, which casts doubts on the validity of the allegations.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his Turkish counterpart on the relationship between the Turkish security services and ISIL in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK Government maintains a close dialogue with the Turkish government at all levels on the threat posed the so called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) last discussed cooperation against ISIL with his counterpart, the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu, on 16 June. The talks included the situation in Tel Abyad.Turkey is also an important member of the Global Coalition, and continues to make a valuable contribution to the international campaign against ISIL, including supporting airstrikes and stopping the transit of foreign fighters. We welcome Turkey’s support, including through hosting one of the Train and Equipment Centres (T&E) for the US-led T&E programme for the Syrian moderate opposition. Turkey also plays a key role in the humanitarian effort. It hosts more than 2 million refugees fleeing from Syria and Iraq, and is facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid across the border.

India: UN Security Council

Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to ensure that any progress towards a permanent seat on the UN Security Council for India is made conditional on that country's compliance with UN resolutions relating to Kashmir.

Mr Hugo Swire: We fully support a permanent seat for India on the UN Security Council. On Kashmir it is our, long-standing position that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting resolution to the situation there, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe a solution nor to act as a mediator.

Turkey: Diplomatic Service

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff were employed by HM Consulate-General in Istanbul on (a) 1 January 2010, (b) 1 January 2015 and (c) 1 June 2015.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The number of staff employed by the British Consulate-General in Istanbul on 31st March 2010 is shown in the table below. The number of staff employed by the British Consulate-General in Istanbul for 1st January 2015 and 1st June 2015 are also shown in the table. All Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Local Staff and Other Government Department Local Staff are directly employed by the British Consulate-General. UK based FCO staff are employed by the FCO in London but are serving a posting in Istanbul.DateFCO UK based staffFCO Locally Employed staffOGD Locally Employed staff31st Mar 20101780261st Jan 20151896721st Jun 2015188292

Syria: Armed Conflict

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on (a) the situation in Syria and (b) the recent attacks by ISIL on the Syrian town of Kobane.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK Government maintains a close dialogue with the Turkish government on the threat posed by the so called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) last discussed the threat with the Turkish President Erdoğan, on 3 June, 2015. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) also discussed cooperation against ISIL with his counterpart, the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu, most recently on 16 June, including the situation in Tel Abyad. On 26 June the UK’s Representative to Syria discussed with Turkish officials, the situation in Kobane following the recent ISIL attacks.Turkey is an important member of the Global Coalition, and continues to make a valuable contribution to the international campaign against ISIL, including supporting airstrikes and stopping the transit of foreign fighters. We welcome Turkey’s support, including through hosting one of the Train and Equipment Centres (T&E) for the US-led T&E programme for the Syrian moderate opposition. Turkey also plays a key role in the humanitarian effort. It hosts more than 2 million refugees fleeing from Syria and Iraq, and is facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid across the border.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on attacks by ISIL on the Syrian town of Kobane.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: On 25 June, the so called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant(ISIL) infiltrated Kobane and launched an attack estimated to have killed over 200 people in the city and surrounding areas. We understand that the People's Defense Units (YPG) have now driven ISIL from the city and have resumed full control.We are watching developments closely and continue to call on all sides of the conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law and protect civilians. We are working with the authorities in Turkey and our international partners to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to those who have fled Kobane for Turkey.

Yemen

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on the political and security situation in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We remain in close contact with the Government of Yemen and other international partners regarding the situation in Yemen. I spoke to President Hadi of Yemen on 3 June and UN Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed on 6 June ahead of consultations in Geneva on 16-18 June. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), spoke to Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Al Jubeir on 23 June to discuss the humanitarian situation. Our Yemen Office in Jeddah and British Embassy in Riyadh are in regular contact with Yemeni and Saudi interlocutors to discuss the political and humanitarian situation and how the UK can best support moving towards a durable process for stability in the country. We remain fully supportive of the UN’s efforts to broker negotiations between Yemeni parties and call on parties to engage in good faith in this process.The situation on the ground remains unstable and the humanitarian situation is dire. The Houthis and forces loyal to former President Saleh have continued their aggression, including most recently firing a scud missile across the Saudi border on 29 June.

Argentina: Overseas Trade

Mr Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the value of trade was between the UK and Argentina in each of the last six years.

Mr Hugo Swire: For the six years to 2013 (most recent figures), trade both goods and services between the United Kingdom and Argentina was worth £1,190m in 2008, £1,250m in 2009, £1,430 in 2010, £1,420m in 2011, £1,460m in 2012 and £1,380 in 2013.

Paraguay: Overseas Trade

Mr Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the value of trade was between the UK and Paraguay in each of the last six years.

Mr Hugo Swire: For the six years to 2013 (most recent figures), trade between the United Kingdom and Paraguay was worth, £25m in 2008, £23m in 2009, £41m in 2010, £47m in 2011, £40m in 2012 and £53m in 2013.

Syria: Military Aid

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support and assistance the Government is providing to the Al Sanadid Arabs in the fight against ISIS in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The al-Sanadid army, based in Hasakeh Province, has recently supported the Kurdish armed group, the YPG, in retaking ground from ISIL. However, the UK is not providing any material assistance to the al-Sanadid army. We recognise the difficult circumstances the Syrian Kurds face in the midst of the continuing civil war and their fight against ISIL. They are making gains against ISIL with the help of anti-ISIL coalition airstrikes. But we are concerned that the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) continues to maintain links with the Assad regime and refuses to cooperate fully with the moderate Syrian Opposition. We are also concerned that the PYD maintains some links with the PKK, a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK. Over the past year, UK officials have met PYD representatives to raise our concerns.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussion his Department has had with the European Commission on campaigns by that institution during the UK referendum campaign.

Mr David Lidington: Ministers and officials regularly meet with the European Commission to discuss a range of subjects, including the referendum on the UK's EU membership and the reforms which the Government is seeking.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Public Appointments

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will place in the Library a list of all public appointments made by his Department between 1 January 2015 and 1 May 2015.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Under the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies April 2012, Government departments are required to publicise successful appointments. Two appointments have been made in 2015, Sir Ciarán Devane, CEO of British Council in January and Sir Martin Davidson, Chairman of Great Britain China Centre in February.

Iran: Nuclear Power

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect that Iran's possession of advanced IR-8 centrifuge would have on its nuclear break out ability.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Use of IR-8 centrifuges for enrichment could significantly shorten breakout times. However, as reported in the 29 May report from the IAEA DG Iran currently has only one prototype IR-8 machine in place, without connections, in the research and development area at the Natanz nuclear facility. Ensuring that Iran’s use of advanced centrifuges is adequately constrained remains a key element of the E3+3 negotiations currently underway.

Iran: Nuclear Power

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of Iran's development of the IR-8 centrifuge; and what effect this will have on that country's enrichment capabilities.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The 29 May report from the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General confirms that Iran’s development work on the IR-8 centrifuge has continued in accordance with the Joint Plan of Action. Iran’s IR-8 research and development is limited to one prototype machine in place without connections at the Natanz nuclear facility. Use of IR-8 machines could significantly increase Iran’s enrichment capabilities should research and development on the centrifuge be completed.

Iran: Nuclear Power

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on Iran's research and development of advanced centrifuges.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: On 29 May the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General issued the latest report on safeguards implementation in Iran, which includes an update on Iran’s research and development activity at the Natanz nuclear facility. The report confirms that since the Director General’s previous report, Iran has continued safeguarded research and development activities in line with its commitments under the Joint Plan of Action.

EU Reform

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on reform of (a) EU Social Policy, (b) EU Employment Policy, (c) the free movement of labour within the EU and (e) EU red tape and regulation.

Mr David Lidington: The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has been clear on the need to reform EU laws to reduce the incentives which have led to mass immigration from Europe, increase economic competitiveness and cut red tape to create jobs and growth for hard working families.

Tibet

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what change there has been in the Government's policy towards the status of Tibet and the integrity of the culture of Tibetan people within China; and what recent discussions he has had with his Chinese counterparts on the status of Tibet.

Mr Hugo Swire: As I stated during a Westminster Hall Debate on Tibet on 18 June, our position on Tibet has not changed. The Government position remains that of subsequent governments before it: we regard Tibet as part of the People’s Republic of China and do not support independence. The Prime Minister confirmed this position with Premier Li during the UK-China Summit in June last year. We support the protection of cultural rights throughout China, and remain concerned by restrictions to these rights in ethnic minority regions, including Tibet. We maintain our belief that long term stability in Tibet will be best achieved through respect for the universal principles of human rights, and genuine autonomy for Tibet within the framework of the Chinese constitution. Meaningful dialogue is the best way to address and resolve the underlying differences between Tibetan communities and the Chinese government, and we continue to encourage all sides to restart talks as soon as possible.

Afghanistan

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) help tackle corruption, (b) promote human rights and (c) improve the justice system in Afghanistan.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK is committed to supporting President Ghani’s efforts to eliminate corruption, promote human rights and improve the justice system as set out in his ambitious reform agenda at the London Conference on Afghanistan.There has been significant progress, particularly on women’s rights, since 2001, but the gains made are fragile and the country still faces huge challenges. The UK provides support and funding for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission to help it protect human rights, investigate and catalogue violence and support those seeking justice. We play an active role, along with EU Member States, on protecting human rights defenders as part of the EU Local Strategy. In addition, the Department for International Development (DFID) also funds a number of humanitarian programmes that help to promote human rights.Through DFID’s Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund we run a public financial management reform project to strengthen procurement, audit and reporting controls to improve transparency and accountability. The fund is also used to increase access to legal services through a justice services delivery project. In addition we’re working to increasing women’s access to justice by funding services providing legal advice to women suffering from domestic violence.

Burma: Humanitarian Aid

Paul Scully: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has requested the UN Security-General to lead personally negotiations on securing unrestricted humanitarian access in Rakhine State, Burma.

Mr Hugo Swire: The United Kingdom continues to encourage a wider UN leadership role to help bring peace and reconciliation to all communities in Rakhine State. We welcome the firm personal stand the UN Secretary General has already taken on the Rohingya. During his visit to Burma in November 2014, he publicly expressed his concern about the discrimination and violence they face, and called for the human rights and dignity of all the people in Rakhine to be respected. During the recent crisis in the Andaman Sea, he called President Thein Sein on 20 May to make clear his concerns. The UN Secretary General also presided over a meeting of the International Partnership Group on Burma on 24 April. More widely, the UK is actively keeping Rakhine and the situation of the Rohingya high on the international agenda and within the UN system. With UK support, the situation in Rakhine was discussed at a UN Security Council briefing on 28 May, and the UK was instrumental in securing strong UN Resolutions on Burma at the UN General Assembly in November and the Human Rights Council in March. The latter resolution extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights. In Burma, Professor Yanghee Lee, who has highlighted the plight of the Rohingya in her reports. The Government invited Professor Lee to the UK in March, where she discussed the situation in Rakhine with the Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns. We will continue to engage closely with the UN system to maintain a focus on this important issue.

Romania: NATO

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with counterparts in NATO countries on the new NATO Force Integration Unit to be built in Romania.

Mr David Lidington: I frequently have calls with my NATO counterparts and discuss a range of issues including NATO. We are in regular contact with Romania and NATO Allies on the implementation of NATO’s Readiness Action Plan (RAP) agreed at the Wales Summit last September, which includes the development of the NATO Force Integration Units (NFIU) in six eastern Allies. In March 2015, the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Mr Fallon), visited Romania, calling on the President, Prime Minister and Defence Minister to discuss these issues. NATO Defence Ministers met in Brussels on 24-25 June to assess progress since Wales. It was agreed that overall there continued to be good progress on RAP implementation and that the six NFIUs would be fully manned by the end of the year. The UK is playing a leading role in this effort. Romania’s NFIU will support planning, conduct host nation liaison and facilitate the rapid deployment of the new Very High Readiness Joint Task Force. The UK will support the NFIU through the provision of a Staff Officer.

British Nationals Abroad

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department provides to UK holidaymakers who get into difficulty when travelling abroad.

James Duddridge: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office offers help appropriate to the individual circumstances of each case. The help offered may include:> Issuing replacement emergency travel documents.> Providing information about transferring funds.> Providing appropriate help for victims of crime and those who are ill or in hospital.> Providing details of local lawyers, interpreters, doctors and funeral directors.> Contacting family or friends.> Making special arrangements in cases of terrorism, civil unrest or natural disasters.The support that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office can offer British Nationals travelling abroad is described in our publication, Support for British Nationals Abroad: A Guide. This can be found at the following link: http://tinyurl.com/pac6327.

Nuclear Disarmament

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage nuclear non-proliferation and multilateral disarmament of existing nuclear weapons.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We work with international partners in a variety of fora to prevent nuclear proliferation and to help achieve our shared goal of nuclear disarmament. The UK plays a very active role in the Iran nuclear negotiations, in upholding sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and in applying export controls via the Nuclear Suppliers Group. We encourage States that have not yet done so, to sign up to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) so that this important treaty can enter into force, pending which we provide significant financial and technical support to the international monitoring system designed to detect nuclear tests. We also encourage States that have not done so to sign up to International Atomic Energy Agency Additional Protocols. We continue to urge the start and early completion of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament on a Fissile Material Cut off Treaty, to seek universalisation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and continue to work to build trust and confidence with other Nuclear Weapon States through the P5 process.

Piracy

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the scale of international at-sea piracy; and what steps the Government is taking to counter piracy at sea.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Recorded acts of piracy have increased in South East Asia from 128 to 141 2014 and 2015. The UK is an active member of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships in Asia (ReCAAP) who work to combat piracy in the region.International action has suppressed piracy off the coast of Somalia and there has not been a successful attack since 2012. However, the situation is reversible and we remain vigilant. The UK hosts the headquarters of EUNAVFOR Operation ATALANTA and NATO Operation Ocean Shield, and provides a Deputy Commander to the Combined Maritime Forces. The UK also supports bilateral capacity building in East Africa through EUCAP NESTOR and UN Office on Drugs and Crime.The situation in the Gulf of Guinea has remained stable over the last 10 years but there were 67 attacks in 2014. The UK remains committed to supporting west African states build their capacity ashore and at sea.

Northern Ireland Office

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive on measures to bring the level of car insurance premiums in Northern Ireland in line with those in the rest of the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: This issue has not been raised with me by Executive Ministers.The Competition and Markets Authority has investigated the private motor insurance market across the UK including Northern Ireland and published its final report in September 2014. Measures to be introduced include a ban on agreements between price comparison websites and insurers which prevent insurers making their products available more cheaply elsewhere.In March 2015, the Competition and Markets Authority published its final Order setting out how changes resulting from its investigation will be introduced.

Attorney General

Director of Public Prosecutions

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Attorney General, if he will make it his policy to enable a Select Committee to hold a confirmation hearings for the post of Director of Public Prosecutions.

Robert Buckland: The post of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is a Civil Service appointment. The process is conducted by the independent Civil Service Commission in line with statute and the Government has no plans to change this. The Commission appoints a panel to carry out the process. In recent competitions, the panel has consisted of the Cabinet Secretary, a senior Civil Service Commissioner, a non-executive director from the relevant department and an external stakeholder - which in the case of the DPP might be a Court of Appeal judge.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Green Investment Bank: Merseyside

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which projects in Merseyside have been funded by the Green Investment Bank in each year of that bank's operation.

Anna Soubry: To date, the Green Investment Bank (GIB) has helped finance two projects in the Merseyside area.   In December 2013, GIB committed £20m to the design, build and operation of a new ‘energy from waste’ plant on behalf of the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority. The facility, located in Teesside, will each year convert into energy more than 420,000 tonnes of residual waste from six boroughs in the Merseyside and Halton area. I understand the project is expected to create 49 permanent jobs and 2 apprenticeships at the Teesside plant and another 20 permanent jobs and 1 apprentice at the Merseyside rail freight facilities as well as many more jobs (approximately 100) during the construction phase.   In November 2014, GIB committed £30.1m to a new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant in Widnes, the North West’s largest waste wood renewable power facility. I understand the project is expected to create 20 permanent jobs and many more jobs (approximately 200) during construction.

Industrial Sector Strategy Councils

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, on which dates the (a) Ministerial Medical Technology Strategy Group, (b) Aerospace Growth Partnership, (c) Agri-Tech Leadership Council, (d) Automotive Council UK, (e) Construction Leadership Council, (f) Information Economy Council, (g) International Education Council, (h) Nuclear Industrial Council, (i) Offshore Wind Industry Council, (j) Ministerial Industrial Strategy Group, (k) Oil and Gas Industry Council, (l) Professional and Business Services Council, (m) Space Leadership Council and (n) Defence Growth Partnership met in the last year; which (i) Minister and (ii) officials in his Department attended each such meeting; and what support his Department provides to each such group.

Anna Soubry: I cannot comment on meetings held under the previous Government as it is an established convention that Ministers of one Administration cannot see the documents of a previous administration. However, some of the information requested relating to the period under the last Administration is available on the Government’s website and also on some external organisations’ websites. In the two months since the general election, Ministers and officials have met with the Automotive Council, Oil and Gas Industry Council, Professional and Business Services Council, Ministerial Industry Strategy Group and Defence Growth Partnership. Meetings with the Ministerial Medical Technology Strategy Group, Aerospace Growth Partnership, Agri-tech Leadership Council and Space Leadership Council are planned to take place in July. Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and other departments provide support to the operation of these Councils in a variety of ways depending on the Council in question.

Green Investment Bank

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the decision to sell the Government's majority stake in the Green Investment Bank on investor confidence and that bank's ability to attract new and cost-effective sources of private capital.

Anna Soubry: Bringing private ownership into UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) will give the company access to a much greater volume of capital from a much wider range of sources than if it were to remain in 100% Government ownership, including the ability to borrow. Attracting private sector investors to take a stake in GIB will also further prove the company’s business plan and demonstrate to the wider market that investing in this area can be a profitable business and is not just the preserve of Government. This will encourage a wider range of investors to follow GIB into green sectors, helping to increase liquidity in those markets, which is precisely the impact we were seeking to have when we established GIB.

Apprentices

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2015 to Question 3911, what steps his Department is taking to increase apprenticeship starts for people aged 18 and below.

Nick Boles: We are committed to 3 million apprenticeship starts during the next 5 years and we will work with employers to provide more apprenticeship opportunities for all ages but particularly for our young people.   Measures will include introducing a new duty on public bodies to ensure the employment of more apprentices in the public sector and encouraging employers to develop new apprenticeship standards including for job roles not previously covered by apprenticeships.   In addition, the funding of apprenticeships training undertaken by 16-18 year olds is more generous than for older age groups irrespective of whether they are following a framework or a new apprenticeship standard.

Apprentices: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2015 to Question 3910, what partnerships with business his Department has formed to increase the availability of apprenticeships in Coventry.

Nick Boles: The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has employer facing teams and dedicated small business advisers that work with businesses across England to increase the availability of apprenticeship opportunities and Government funded training providers support over 3000 apprenticeships a year in Coventry.   The SFA also advised on the implementation of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s Apprenticeship Strategy Action Plan for 2014/15 that included direct contact with a number of employers such as JLR, GE Power Conversion, National Grid, Caterpillar, IBM, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin and Alstom UK.   The Coventry Growth deal is providing £18 million in 2015/16 for an Apprenticeship Centre at Warwickshire College. This will provide state of the art equipment and will support additional apprenticeships starts and provision in advanced engineering and manufacturing.

Regional Growth Fund

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 25 March 2015 to Question 225678, what total amount of funds has been allocated via intermediaries in each bidding round of the Regional Growth Fund; and what proportion of such funds has not yet been drawn down.

Anna Soubry: £1.72 billion has been allocated to Programmes across Rounds 1-6 of the Regional Growth Fund and exceptional Regional Growth Fund. The tables show how much of that money has been drawn down to date. All data is correct at 1 May 2015   Unless otherwise agreed, projects and programmes in Rounds 1 to 4 had until 31 March 2015 to draw down their funding and projects and programmes in Round 5 and 6 will be able to draw down funding until 31 March 2017. The Department agrees a draw down profile with each organisation when they sign their grant offer letter that matches the beneficiary’s own investment schedules and job commitments. The subsequent rate of draw down is then subject to the beneficiaries meeting the conditions. ProgrammeRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5Round 6Excep TotalCommitted RGF (£m)179414548221184161161,723RGF paid (£m)17941249120180141,343   The following table shows the planned RGF grant draw down timetable which has been agreed with these programmes.   RGF Drawn Down by year (£ million)   Financial Year2011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17TotalActual paid – to 1 May 201541872288565  1,343Remaining213142355Total  1,698   This is the actual amount paid to intermediaries as of 1 May 2015. The difference between the totals in tables 1 and 2 arises because RGF programmes have not always claimed the full grant available to them.   More detail on which RGF programmes are still available for SMEs to bid into is available at https://www.gov.uk/regional-growth-fund-programmes-guide.

Technology

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the status is of the Eight Great Technologies; what progress has been made on the commercialisation and development of those technologies; and what recent steps the Government has taken to support that progress.

Joseph Johnson: Emerging technologies have the potential to deliver productivity gains to a variety of sectors and enhance quality of life. In 2012, the Government identified “8 Great Technologies” – including regenerative medicine, big data and advanced materials - to highlight key emerging areas for the UK and increased investment by £600 million to accelerate their application and commercialisation.   But new technologies continue to be developed and the 8 Great list is neither exclusive nor exhaustive. This is why we continue to work with partners to review emerging technologies in important areas in which the UK excels both within and beyond this list. For example, we have invested more than £100 million across the country for research and infrastructure in graphene as an advanced material; and £270 million in quantum technologies.   Through Innovate UK, the Government is supporting business innovation and we have established a network of elite Catapult Centres to commercialise new and emerging technologies in areas where there are large global market opportunities and a critical mass of UK capability.   In addition, BSI, the UK’s National Standard Body, has worked with Innovate UK to publish new standards in areas of technology where innovative UK companies can gain a commercial advantage.

Manufacturing Industries

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many firms received support directly through Reshore UK in (a) March, (b) April and (c) May 2015.

Anna Soubry: During (a) March (b) April (c) May 2015, Reshore UK were advising a total of 80, 83 and 87 firms to reshore work and build capacity in the UK.

Agriculture: Technology

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, by what date he plans for the Centre of Agricultural Informatics and Metrics of Sustainability to be operational.

George Freeman: Innovate UK are on track to sign the contract with the consortium partners to make the Centre of Agricultural Informatics and Metrics of Sustainability a legal entity before Recess. Upon signing the consortium will move to make the Centre operational later in the year.

Technology and Innovation Centres

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, by what date he plans for the Energy Systems Catapult to be operational.

Joseph Johnson: The Energy Systems Catapult is already operational and was formally launched on 1 April 2015 with an interim CEO and from a temporary location in Birmingham. The Chairman was appointed in January 2015 and the Catapult has had an interim management team in place since May. Four non-executive directors were appointed in June.   The Catapult is working to move to a permanent home in Birmingham in 2016. Advertisements for a permanent CEO were published in June and it is hoped that an appointment will be made by the end of this year.

Postal Services: Standards

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what statistics he holds on (a) reliability of delivery and (b) success rate of Royal Mail post for (i) Cambridge and (ii) the UK.

Anna Soubry: The Government does not hold this type of information.   Royal Mail, as the designated Universal Service Provider for the United Kingdom, is required to provide the universal service to a specified standard and in accordance with quality targets agreed with and monitored by Ofcom, the independent regulator for postal services.   The company publishes reports on its quality of service, which includes postcode areas, each quarter on its website.

Bribery Act 2010

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what meetings officials of UKTI have had with business organisations to discuss the Bribery Act 2010 and guidance on that Act since 2015; and on what dates those meetings took place.

Anna Soubry: International Trade Advisers and other UKTI staff at overseas posts and in London have regular contact with businesses and business organisations and the subject of the Bribery Act and guidance on it may arise during any of those discussions. No records are kept of when the subject has arisen during these routine interactions.

Department for International Development

Humza Yousaf

Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when she next plans to meet the Minister for Europe and International Development in the Scottish Government.

Mr Desmond Swayne: There are no arrangements in place at present. I will write to the Minister for Europe and International Development in the Scottish Government in due course.

Development Aid: Conferences

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what preparations she is making for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa from 13 to 16 July 2015; and if she will make a statement.

Justine Greening: I look forward to attending the Financing for Development (FFD) Conference in Addis Ababa. My officials are fully engaged in concluding the negotiations in the UN General Assembly to prepare the outcome document for the Conference. Our priority is to ensure that the Addis outcome provides a strong framework for resourcing the delivery of the post 2015 agenda over the coming years – taking into account all available forms of development finance, as well as non-financial means of implementation; and balancing responsibility for delivery between all actors.  In parallel, the UK is working on preparations for the Conference itself to ensure an ambitious and successful event.

Developing Countries: Overseas Aid

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure all projects funded by her Department are (a) monitored and (b) directed at people in developing countries in the most need.

Mr Desmond Swayne: British taxpayers expect all ODA to be high quality and well-targeted. So since 2010, DFID has made value for money and transparency of UK official development assistance (ODA) a top priority. In the last 5 years, DFID has worked hard to make its systems and processes more rigorous to make sure that aid projects reach intended beneficiaries and deliver results, including introducing greater ministerial oversight and new spending controls. Business cases and delivery plans are used for all DFID projects setting out the rationale for the projects and how they will be implemented. Formal project reviews are required annually and at completion against a performance monitoring framework. These reviews assess and record that funds have been used for their intended purposes and what results have been delivered. DFID has also reduced the number of bilateral country programmes since 2010. Finally, DFID has introduced greater transparency and scrutiny of DFID’s work through setting up the aid watchdog, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact, which scrutinises everything DFID does, alongside the work of the International Development Select Committee.

Department for International Development: Public Appointments

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will place in the Library a list of all public appointments made by her Department between 1 January 2015 and 1 May 2015.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Under the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies April 2012, government departments are required to publicise successful appointments. However, departments will usually publish this information on GOV.UK or the appointing body’s website.

Department for International Development: Press

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which periodicals and newspapers her Department subscribes to; what quantity of each periodical is so obtained; and what the cost of such subscriptions was in 2014.

Grant Shapps: Holding answer received on 06 July 2015



DFID communications division’s total spend on newspapers and periodicals in the 2014/15 financial year was £4,466. Following a savings drive in November 2014 DFID’s communications division no longer subscribes to print periodicals, saving around £1,400 a year.

Nigeria: Infrastructure

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has reached a decision on whether to fund an extension of the Nigerian Infrastructure Advisory Facility - beyond NIAF 2.

Grant Shapps: The Nigerian Infrastructure Advisory Facility 2 (NIAF2) will end in December 2016. A decision regarding future support for infrastructure development in Nigeria beyond NIAF2 will be taken during the next Country Operational Plan period, starting in April 2016.

Developing Countries: Hygiene and Sanitation

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department spent on projects relating to (a) the provision of clean water, (b) sewage, (c) women's sanitary projects and (d) other essential hygiene projects in 2014.

Grant Shapps: In Financial Year 2013 to 2014 DFID spent £93.3million on providing clean water and £34.8million on sanitation projects. In that year DFID also spent £39.8million on health education which includes promotion of improved hygiene practices. The source for these figures is the publication Statistics on International Development 2013 2014. The tables in that publication are not able to provide a figure for spending on women’s sanitary projects. However, we have a number of programmes globally. DFID is supporting a number of initiatives to address menstrual hygiene management. For example, in our education portfolio we support programmes that are improving the availability of disposable sanitary pads. DFID has also supported an extensive menstrual hygiene management research programme which resulted in a comprehensive manual and training pack. This includes the CAMFED Secondary Education Programme in Zimbabwe that is helping to ensure 24,000 orphaned and vulnerable girls complete secondary school. Through the Girls’ Education Challenge programme, DFID is providing £10million to World Vision in Zimbabwe to implement the Improving Girls’ Access to Transformational Education programme which aims to support 95,000 rural girls. In the rural zone of Wolaita in Ethiopia, DFID is working with an NGO called ‘Link Community Development’ to provide sanitary pads and upgrade sanitation facilities for 56,683 marginalised girls.

Department for Education

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Oral Answer of 15 June 2015, Official Report, column 20, when she plans to respond to the Fifth Report of the Education Select Committee, Session 2014-15, HC 145 on Life Lessons: PSHE and SRE in Schools.

Edward Timpson: The government wants all young people to leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. We agree with the committee that high-quality PSHE and sex and relationships education has a vital role to play in this. We are considering carefully the committee’s recommendations and will respond in due course.

Pre-school Education

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated in the last five years on a link between brain development and nurturing in early years; and what additional resources her Department is providing in (i) Hartlepool, (ii) North East England and (iii) England to ensure infants' brains are stimulated and developed.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education recognises the importance of brain development and nurturing in the early years. Research shows that high quality early education, in conjunction with effective parenting skills, has a positive influence on children’s confidence, their capacity to learn, and contributes to a sense of well-being and self-worth. The foundations for human development – physical, intellectual and emotional – are laid in early childhood. It is for this reason that the department has invested so heavily in the early education entitlement for all three- and four-year-olds as well as the most disadvantaged two-year-olds. The department has also brought forward a Childcare Bill to give families where all parents are working an entitlement to 30 hours of free childcare for their three- and four-year olds.   The department has commissioned and evaluated a significant amount of research on early education, which encompasses consideration of a range of issues such as child development and nurturing. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework, which all registered early years providers must follow, recognises that good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation that children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up. The EYFS is based on evidence considered by Dame Clare Tickell in her 2011 review. A report of the evidence can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-early-years-foundation-stage-review-report-on-the-evidence   A number of other important reviews have also informed this department’s policy on early education. These include reports by Graham Allen MP in 2011 on early intervention and Professor Sir Michael Marmot in 2010 which highlighted the important lifelong effects that the early years (starting in the womb) has on many aspects of health and well-being, educational achievement and economic status. The reports can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-intervention-the-next-steps--2 and https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/61012/earlyintervention-smartinvestment.pdf http://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/projects/fair-society-healthy-lives-the-marmot-review   The department also published research in 2014 on the CANparent trial, a government initiative to examine the development of a universal offer of parenting classes to enhance parenting skills and increase confidence. The report can be found at: http://www.canparent.org.uk/sites/default/files/Trial_evaluation_final_report__09_07_14_.pdf   Child development in the early years remains a key research priority for this department. A major piece of longitudinal research, Study of Early Education and Development (SEED), has been commissioned to evaluate the effectiveness of the current early education model in England. SEED will specifically examine the impact on child development of providing funded early years education to two year olds from lower income families. The study will follow the progress of over 5,000 children from the age of two, up until the end of key stage one at the age of seven. SEED will update evidence from the highly influential Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE) that has provided crucial evidence of the benefits of high quality early years education. A full impact report is due in 2020.   Although we do not have a separate funding stream to “ensure infants’ brains are stimulated and developed”, the department continues to invest heavily in the early education entitlement for all three- and four-year-olds and the most disadvantaged two-year-olds. The early years pupil premium (EYPP) was introduced in April 2015 and provides additional support for disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds accessing the government-funded entitlement hours.   For three- and four-year-olds, the 2015-16 initial funding allocation for the existing entitlement and the early years pupil premium is:  3/4-year-old entitlementEYPP Total Hartlepool£2.99 million £135,000£3.13 millionNorth East England£92.89 million £2.98 million£95.87 millionEngland£2.18 billion £50 million£2.23 billion   These data are published and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2015-to-2016   Funding allocations for 2015-16 for two-year-olds will be announced in July 2015, as this is the first year of participation-based funding for two-year-olds. The hourly rate for two-year-olds was announced in October 2015 for all local authorities. Children in Hartlepool will receive £4.85 per hour and the national average hourly funding rate is £5.09. This data is published and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/392709/Hourly_rates_for_2-year-olds__2015_to_2016.pdf   Local authorities are funded for the early years entitlement and the EYPP through the Dedicated Schools Grant. In consultation with their Schools Forum, local authorities are responsible for deciding how best to distribute this funding across their locality. They also set their own local rates of funding for early years providers and should set rates in close consultation with providers.

Department for Education: Public Appointments

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will place in the Library a list of all public appointments made by her Department between 1 January 2015 and 1 May 2015.

Nick Gibb: Under the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies April 2012, government departments are required to publicise successful appointments. All public appointments made between 1 January 2015 and 1 May 2015 are therefore already in the public domain.

Pre-school Education

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on maintaining at current levels per capita funding for early years education.

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that early years education is adequately funded on a per capita basis for the lifetime of the Parliament.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The government recognises that it is important that funding for the early education entitlement is fair and sustainable for providers. The government has therefore launched a review of the cost of providing childcare. The objective of this review is to inform decisions on the level of funding that providers require in order to deliver quality childcare provision at good value to the taxpayer and consistent with the government’s fiscal plans. A call for evidence to inform the review was launched on 15 June and will close on 10 August. This is part of the process of gathering the necessary evidence to inform the review which will report in the autumn. The call for evidence is available online here: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/cost-of-providing-childcare-review-call-for-evidence The Department for Education regularly speaks to Her Majesty’s Treasury about all aspects of funding for early years.

Schools: Admissions

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of additional costs to schools arising from pupil intakes in which more than 30 per cent of children have English as a second language.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education recognises that additional funding for pupils with English as an additional language can be important, which is why we have given local authorities the ability to allocate a proportion of school funding to schools on the basis of the number of pupils that have English as an additional language.

Hearing Impairment

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to provide more funding for deaf people to procure the services of interpreters.

Edward Timpson: Local authorities have clear duties to support children with special educational needs (SEN). They are responsible for planning and delivering the necessary services for children within their area.   The Children and Families Act enables a joined-up approach to support children with sensory impairments, with clear information on the support that families can expect locally and the option of a personal budget for some parents and young people to give them control over the support they receive.   The Department for Education funds the National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP) to support local authorities to benchmark and improve the support available for children with sensory impairments. NatSIP is working with sensory support services across the country to support the SEN reforms. NatSIP helps local authorities and settings ensure that the right support is in place to improve the outcomes for deaf, blind and multi-sensory impaired children.

Children in Care

Mr David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the introduction of the category of distant placements for looked-after children on the number placed more than 20 miles from their last known address (a) in children's homes and (b) with foster carers; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: Data is collected on the distance of placements from home for looked after children. Data for 2014 is published in table A6 of the annual Children looked after in England, including adoption statistical first release. This can be found online here: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption--2 It is not possible to attribute the change in the number of children placed more than 20 miles from their home area to the introduction of the category of distant placements as a number of factors will affect decisions on where to place children, including their specific needs.

Children in Care: Missing Persons

Mr David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of recent changes introduced to improve safeguarding of children who go missing from care on the number of children who go missing from (a) care, (b) placements outside the local authority boundaries and (c) distant placements; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: Statutory guidance on missing children was revised in January 2014 and can be found online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-who-run-away-or-go-missing-from-home-or-care.   It is not possible to draw conclusions about the impact of the changes in guidance on the number of children missing from care as many factors contribute to this. However, we are working, with support from local authorities, to better understand their responses to missing children and the effect of recent changes. All local authorities must now inform the Department for Education about all incidences of children going missing from care as part of their annual statistical return to the department on looked after children. This, along with more accurate figures on the number of children missing from care available in September 2015, will inform future policy on missing children.

Special Educational Needs

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the (a) performance of local authorities in ensuring that 16 and 17-year-olds with special educational needs and disabilities have Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans in place before they turn 18 and (b) adequacy of support given to young people with EHC plans as they transition into adult social care.

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children with special educational needs and disabilities statements have been given Education, Health and Care plans since the implementation of the new SEN Code of Practice.

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the performance of local authorities' (a) implementation of the Local Offer and (b) provision of young people and their parents with information on all special educational needs services available in their local area.

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to monitor whether local authorities are including the full range of independent providers of children's services in their Local Offers as part of the SEN Code of Practice.

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the performance of local authorities in moving children with special education needs (SEN) statements onto Education, Health and Care plans under the new SEN Code of Practice.

Edward Timpson: From September 2014 local authorities in England were required to implement the Special Educational Need and Disability reforms.   The Department for Education’s advice to local authorities on Transition to the new 0 to 25 special educational needs and disability system (March 2015) sets out the groups of children and young people whose statements must be reviewed and transferred where appropriate to Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans during 2014/15. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/414952/SEND_Reforms_transitional_advice_March15.pdf   Every local authority has published an individual Local Transition Plan setting out the timings for transfers to the new system. Figures returned by local authorities and published in the Special Educational Needs in England Statistical First Release in May 2015. This information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen   The department expects that young people who are currently receiving support as a result of a Learning Difficulty Assessment (LDA) and who remain in further education or training during the transition period will be issued with an EHC plan if they request and need one.   The department has provided extensive support to local authorities over the preparation of EHC plans, including the publication of guidance and the provision of training. As part of this we commissioned the Council for Disabled Children (CDC), to work with relevant professionals to produce guidance and training material on the transition to adult social care. CDC published ‘The role of social care in implementing the Children and Families Act 2014’ in March 2015. This can be found here: http://www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/resources/the-role-of-social-care-in-implementing-the-children-and-families-act. The department is monitoring progress of transition in local areas closely, to determine what further support local authorities may need in order to undertake transfers effectively and to produce good quality EHC plans.   The Children and Families Act 2014 requires all local authorities to publish a Local Offer of the services and support available to children and young people in their area with special educational needs and disabilities. Detailed requirements are set out in chapter 4 of the relevant statutory guidance, the 0-25 SEND code of practice (January 2015). This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25   All local authorities have published a Local Offer. An important requirement of the Local Offer is that it should include the institutions offering provision for children and young people with SEN which the local authority would expect to draw upon. This will include specialist provision such as special schools, non-maintained special schools, independent special schools and specialist post-16 institutions which are either within the local area or where the local authority would expect to make placements. In addition, there is a statutory requirement to refer to the list of independent special schools and independent specialist colleges approved by the Secretary of State under Section 41 of the 2014 Act: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/section-41-secretary-of-state-approved-list   Responsibility for publishing and maintaining Local Offers lies with each local authority. The department is supporting local authorities to help make sure they meet all statutory requirements for their Local Offer, and that quality continues to improve.   In addition to producing their Local Offer, local authorities are under a statutory duty to provide children, young people and parents with information, advice and support. The government has boosted the support available to families by investing £30 million over two years to ensure there are independent supporters available in every local authority area.

Children: Literacy

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to raise literacy standards amongst children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Nick Gibb: The government’s aim is to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils to improve social mobility and break the cycle of disadvantage.   Research shows that using phonics is the most effective way of teaching children of all abilities to read. The evidence indicates that the teaching of phonics is most effective when combined with a language-rich curriculum to develop children’s positive attitudes towards literacy. This government has therefore placed phonics at the heart of the early teaching of reading. Three years after the introduction of the phonics screening check, 100,000 more six-year-olds are on track to become confident readers.   We have reformed the English curriculum and qualifications, raising expectations so that they match the best worldwide. The national curriculum introduced last year matches those in the highest-performing education jurisdictions in the world, challenging pupils to realise their potential regardless of their background.   We allocated £125 million in 2011 to establish the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), to identify what works to raise standards in underperforming schools. The EEF distributes funding to test approaches to improving performance in our most challenging schools. In 2012, we provided the EEF with an additional £10 million to test what works in helping pupils with poor reading skills to catch up.   We have introduced the Early Language Development Programme and made sure that all three- and four-year-olds, as well as two-year-olds from the lowest income families, have access to 15 hours of government-funded early education per week.   The pupil premium, introduced in 2011 and now worth £2.5 billion this year, gives schools the extra resources they need to close the gap between pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers.   For pupils that do not reach the expected level by the end of primary school, we have introduced the Year 7 Catch-up Premium. This gives secondary schools additional funding so that they can give extra support to those pupils that need it (£48.5 million in 2014-15).

Ministry of Justice

Judges

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to repeal section 11(3) of The Supreme Court Act 1981 and introduce a new mechanism for the removal of a judge of the High Court or the Court of Appeal that does not require an Act of Parliament.

Mr Shailesh Vara: There are no plans to introduce a new mechanism for the removal of a judge of the High Court or the Court of appeal or to repeal section 11(3) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 (formerly known as the Supreme Court Act 1981).

Judges

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to remove the power of veto held by the Lord Chief Justice on the Lord Chancellor's power to remove circuit and district judges.

Mr Shailesh Vara: There are no plans to take such steps.

Courts: Fines

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on the privatisation of the collection and enforcement of fines, compensation and other charges imposed by the criminal courts.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The department is committed to enforcing as many criminal financial impositions as possible. Working with an external provider would bring the necessary investment, technology and innovation to build on the improvements already made by HMCTS.

Reoffenders

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce reoffending.

Andrew Selous: We have taken decisive action to reduce reoffending. For the first time in recent history those sentenced to less than 12 months in custody receive support on release. We have also opened up the delivery of rehabilitation services to a diverse range of providers, including private, voluntary and third sector organisations, who will only be paid in full if they are successful in reducing reoffending and helping offenders turn their backs on crime. These organisations are now providing ‘Through the Gate’ resettlement services to virtually all those in custody, including help with finding or retaining employment and accommodation, and advice on finance and debt. Under ‘Through the Gate’ the vast majority of prisoners will benefit from a universal resettlement service and continuity of provision from custody to the community.

Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to complete the evaluation of the pilots of section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.

Mike Penning: The evaluation of the pilot of recorded pre-trial cross-examination (Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999) will be completed in due course.

Judges

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many judges have been appointed since (a) 1 January and (b) 7 May 2015.

Mr Shailesh Vara: From 1st January to 6th May (inclusive), 42 salaried and 105 fee-paid judges were appointed. From 7th May to 30th June (inclusive), 19 salaried and 76 fee-paid judges were appointed.All salaried judicial appointments are announced on the Judiciary Website. This can be found at: https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/announcement-type/appointments-and-retirements/

Acquittals

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will take steps to ensure that the complainants in cases in which a person has been acquitted of a crime do not pursue vexatious civil cases against the person so acquitted.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Justice has no plans to remove or limit the rights of a claimant to bring a civil claim against a defendant who has been acquitted of an alleged offence based on the same facts. Acquittal of a criminal charge does not rule out civil claims because criminal offences must be proved beyond reasonable doubt, while civil claims are adjudicated on the lesser standard of the balance of probabilities. Rules of court provide adequate protection for acquitted defendants in criminal cases by enabling the court to dismiss unmeritorious claims and, in the case of repeated unmeritorious claims, to ban vexatious litigants from bringing civil proceedings without its permission.

Sentencing: North West

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases were remitted by each High Court in North West England to each magistrates court in the North West for sentencing in 2014.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The High Court hears Chancery, Queen’s Bench and Family matters which are not criminal cases requiring sentencing which could be dealt with in a magistrates’ court. Therefore there is no scenario in which the High Court would remit a case to a magistrates’ court for sentencing.

Ministry of Justice: Press

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, to which periodicals and newspapers his Department subscribes; how many copies of each such periodical his Department acquires; and what the cost of subscribing to such periodicals was in 2014.

Dominic Raab: The information is not held centrally and collecting it would incur disproportionate costs.

Unpaid Fines: Nottinghamshire

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the level of outstanding fines was for courts in Nottinghamshire in 2014-15.

Mr Shailesh Vara: This Government takes recovery and enforcement of financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to finding new ways to ensure impositions are paid and to trace those who do not pay. This is why there has been a year on year increase in the total amount of financial penalties collected over the last four years. The amount of money collected has risen from £259m to a record of £310 million at the end of 2014/15. This is an increase of £20m (7%) in cash collection of financial impositions (excluding confiscation) compared to that collected in 2013/14. The total amount of financial impositions outstanding in Nottingham at the end of March 2015 was £7,716,149. The outstanding balance figures includes the value of accounts that were not due to be paid by the end of the period specified (either because they were imposed close to the end of the year or because they had payment timescales set by the courts for beyond the end of the year) and those that were being paid by instalments on agreed payment plans.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Education

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many visits the armed forces made to (a) state secondary schools, (b) independent schools and (c) colleges in (i) Scotland, (ii) Wales, (iii) England and (iv) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Mark Lancaster: This information is not held in the format requested, but the number of visits in each of the last five years, broken down by Service and Country is detailed below: CountryNumber of Visits by the Royal Navy Number of Visits by the Army Number of Visits by the Royal Air ForceYear 2010-11Scotland412488 101 (see note 3)Northern Ireland46161Wales No data (see note 1)125 399 (see note 3)EnglandNo data (see note 1)5,378Year 2011-12Scotland304191 84 (see note 3)Northern Ireland 188 65Wales146290416 England1,8212,761Year 2012-13Scotland152199 118 (see note 3)Northern Ireland19874Wales 300202 120 (see note 3)England1,382(see note 1)2,412Year 2013-14Scotland211175142 (see note 3)Northern Ireland 53162Wales298211251 (see note 3)England2,2933,882Year 2014-15Scotland219203 217(see note 3)Northern Ireland57 303Wales99246178(see note 3)England2,0501,960Note 1: There is no data for England and Wales due to a loss of data when the Royal Navy computer system was updated.Note 2: This is incomplete data and only includes the South West, Midlands and Northern England.Note 3: Each Service defines regions and areas in a different way and the Royal Air Force is not able to provide separate details for each Country. The figures group Scotland and Northern Ireland together and then England and Wales together. These visits can comprise presentations, citizenship talks, meetings with staff, participation in career events, practice interviews and activities with the students, such as science and maths challenges, and other indoor or outdoor exercises. The Armed Forces never visit schools for recruitment purposes and would only ever visit a school after being invited by a teacher to support school activities. Similar contributions to schools are made by the Police, Fire, Ambulance and other emergency services. The Armed Forces receive numerous requests from schools each year and the three Services take these opportunities to both explain their role, and to assist schools in teaching valuable skills such as leadership, teamwork and citizenship.

USA: Military Aircraft

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the establishment by number and by rank is of 17[R] Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Penny Mordaunt: The current establishment by number and rank of 17(R) Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base in California is as follows. There is a mixture of Royal Air Force and Royal Navy personnel forming the squadron.NumberRank1[1]Group Captain1Wing Commander8Squadron Leader or equivalent3Flight Lieutenant or equivalent1Warrant Officer8Flight Sergeant or equivalent15Sergeant or equivalent14Corporal or equivalent14Senior Aircraftsman or equivalent [1] Not officially 17(R) Squadron but on site as both Delegated Duty Holder and Operational Test Director.

Future Large Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how he plans to apply the recommendations of the Haddan-Cave report of the Nimrod Review to the A400M Future Length Aircraft development programme.

Mr Philip Dunne: The A400M Atlas development programme is nearing completion and the aircraft is already in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other air forces.The Haddon-Cave report made a number of recommendations, including the establishment of the Military Aviation Authority (MAA) as the body responsible for the governance of all aspects of military aviation and to refresh the regulatory framework. The Atlas aircraft operated by the RAF are compliant with MAA regulations, either prescriptively or by an acceptable alternative means of compliance. In addition, the In service support service based at RAF Brize Norton that maintains these aircraft is also regulated by the MAA, and has received all of the required approvals.More specifically, the operation of the RAF Atlas fleet follows the construct recommended in the Haddon-Cave report, namely that a Duty Holder governs the use of the aircraft, and that a release to service authority provides the operating approval, and also approves the certification basis of the aircraft. A separate engineering authority provides the approved data for the aircraft, and the RAF continuing airworthiness management organization operates within the bounds of the approved data, under the authority of the delivery duty holder. Any modifications to the aircraft will be managed by the independent, multinational certification and qualification organization, with any major design changes also being approved by the MAA.

Foxes: Hunting

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2015 to Question 4070, whether any trail hunting by organised fox hunts has taken place on land owned by his Department since 2010.

Mark Lancaster: Trail Hunting has taken place on Ministry of Defence land, under licence, since 2010.

Pigs

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many pigs have been involved in explosive tests undertaken by his Department in each year since 2010.

Mr Philip Dunne: In 2014, 15 pigs were used in experiments where explosives were deployed to replicate battlefield injuries. This is an 84% reduction from the 96 used in all tests in 2009. Figures for each year since 2010 are set out below: 201125201215201319201415  Dstl Porton Down conducts less than half of one per cent of the animal experimentation carried out in the UK. Dstl is proud of its work to develop and create battle-winning technology and protection equipment for UK Forces and Government through the best use of science and technology. The remit for Dstl to provide safe and effective protective measures for the UK and its Armed Forces against the threat posed by chemical and biological weapons and to enhance the treatment of conventional casualties on the battlefield, could not currently be achieved without the use of animals. Each procedure is undertaken in strict accordance with the terms of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986; and Dstl fully embraces the principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement). Dstl Porton Down is licensed to conduct research involving animals by the Home Office.

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Management

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, who the members of the management board of his Department are; and how many of those members are women.

Justin Tomlinson: The Departmental Executive Team includes two women and comprises: Robert Devereux, Permanent Secretary Noel Shanahan, Director General, Operations Jeremy Moore, Director General, Strategy, Policy and Analysis Mike Driver, Director General, Finance Mayank Prakash, Director General, Technology Debbie Alder, Director General, Human Resources Kevin Cunnington, Director General, Digital Transformation Neil Couling, Director General, Universal Credit Programme Claire Johnston, Director General Legal Services

Personal Independence Payment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what annual saving he expects to accrue to the Exchequer from the transfer of existing disability living allowance claimants to personal independence payments.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on (a) public opinion polling and (b) focus group research in relation to the benefit cap in each of the last five years.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on research evaluating the effect of the benefit cap (a) before and (b) after that cap's implementation.

Justin Tomlinson: It is right that we conduct research to ensure the public understand the rationale and impact of policies. The Department spent £271,849 on a suite of commissioned research evaluating the effect of the benefit cap. Reports were published over a period between July 2013 to December 2014. All the spending was after the cap had been implemented. In addition to the commissioned research, DWP published departmental analysis of the effects of the cap in “Benefit Cap: Analysis of outcomes of capped claimants”, and also publishes quarterly Official Statistics showing details of the capped caseload. Public polling and focus groups typically form one element of research. Specific cost breakdowns are not available.

Housing Benefit: Young People

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on restricting housing benefit for young people who are aged between (a) 18 and 21 and in work, (b) 18 and 21 and claiming an out-of-work benefit that is not jobseekers' allowance and (c) 22 and 25.

Justin Tomlinson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 June 2015 to Question UIN1696.

Access to Work Programme

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients of Access to Work claiming in excess of £40,800 have motor neurone disease; and what support his Department will provide for recipients in need of a grant in excess of £40,800 in order to remain in work.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department does not hold information on the number of Access to Work customers with motor neurone disease. The limit of £40,800 will apply to new customers from October 2015, and from April 2018 for existing customers whose awards are above this limit in October 2015, provided their needs remain the same. Customers’ progress towards meeting the cap will be monitored at their annual review points when they and their employers will receive support from teams of specialist advisers. These specialist advisers will work with customers and employers to explore how the maximum support can be deployed to greatest effect. Advisers are able to discuss reasonable adjustments with employers and provide advice on additional cost effective ways of support employers may not have considered – for example on the latest technology which our advisers are made aware of from dedicated technology awareness sessions. They will also offer advice to customers on managing personal budgets when they are rolled out later in 2015/16.

Social Security Benefits: Lone Parents

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of lone parents with children affected by the benefit cap have a child under (a) one year old, (b) two years old, (c) three years old and (d) four years old.

Justin Tomlinson: From April 2013 (when the benefit cap was introduced) to February 2015 (the latest available data) 32,680 lone parents with dependent children have been capped. Of these (a) 4,210 households (13%) have a child under one year old, (b) 9,520 households (29%) have a child under two years old, (c) 14,200 households (44%) have a child under three years old and (d) 18,270 households (56%) have a child aged under four years old, as at February 2015.

Personal Independence Payment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the contract his Department holds with Capita to provide personal independence payment assessments.

Justin Tomlinson: The contract with Capita to provide Personal Independence Payment Assessments was awarded following a negotiated procurement route which offered an opportunity to clarify and probe bidders’ proposals during an extensive period of negotiation. The value of the contract, specification, redacted terms and conditions and schedules were published on Contracts Finder in the usual way on 01 November 2012.

Social Security Benefits

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2015 to Question 4707, on social security benefits, if he will make it his policy to collect and publish data in Stat-Xplore on how many sanctions and appeals are related to claimants not performing online requirements such as job search; and if he will estimate the proportion of (a) sanctions and (b) appeals which are related to such requirements.

Priti Patel: The available information in respect of Jobseeker’s Allowance, including for “Failure to participate in a supervised job search” and Employment and Support Allowance, sanction decisions and Appeals by reason, is published at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/: Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started---SuperWEB2.html  Individual jobseekers requirements are agreed with their Work Coach and are set out in their Claimant Commitment. The activities focus on what gives each individual the best prospects of finding employment and are varied dependant on individuals skills, abilities and the type of employment they are looking for.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much benefit expenditure was lost to relatives claiming benefit for claimants who had died in the most recent year for which figures are available; and how much such expenditure was falsely claimed by claimants registered as living (a) in the UK and (b) abroad.

Justin Tomlinson: As no central record is kept of this information, we are unable to provide the requested data.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he now expects the number of claimants of universal credit to exceed (a) one per cent, (b) two per cent and (c) five per cent of all benefit claimants.

Priti Patel: We are on track with our plans for the national roll out of Universal Credit to single claimants, couples and families. The Department is not setting targets for numbers in receipt of Universal Credit at various points in time. Final numbers will vary according to a number of factors such as economic circumstances over time and the behavioural change of claimants.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress has been made on the trials of support for in-work progression; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel: The trial commenced on 20 April 2015 and therefore it is too early to make an assessment at this stage

Children: Poverty

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will define new targets for child poverty.

Priti Patel: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions made clear in his statement to the House on 1 July that Government is committed to eliminating child poverty, and improving children’s life chances. The Government’s new approach will focus on tackling the root causes of poverty, in particular worklessness and educational attainment. The Government will introduce legislation to give effect to this approach and to remove the existing measures and targets in the Child Poverty Act. Details of the legislation and the action the Government will take will be set out in due course.

Children: Poverty

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what requirements will be placed on Government agencies in the legislation which is proposed to replace the Child Poverty Act 2010.

Priti Patel: This Government is committed to working to eliminate child poverty and improving life chances for children – now and in the future. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced on the 1st July that the Government will focus on tackling the root causes of child poverty. The Government will introduce legislation to give effect to this approach and to remove the existing measures and targets in the Child Poverty Act. Details of the legislation and the action the Government will take will be set out in due course.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Apprentices

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many apprenticeships there are in the (a) agriculture, (b) horticulture, (c) animal care, (d) food and (e) agri-tech sectors.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of how many apprentices work in the food, farming and agri-tech sector.

George Eustice: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills publish data online showing Apprenticeship Programme Starts by Sector Framework, including agriculture, horticulture, animal care and food manufacture: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416508/apprenticeships-starts-by-sase-framework.xls

Antibiotics: Animals

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the use of antibiotics in animals was accounted for by mass medication in the last six years.

George Eustice: Data collected on antibiotics sold for use in animals does not show what an antibiotic was used for, or in how many animals it was administered. Antibiotics for administration through medicated feeding stuffs and water, which are typically used to treat livestock groups of any size, have accounted for, on average, 88% of total sales of veterinary antibiotics for the last six years. Regardless of administration route, antibiotics can only be prescribed by a veterinary surgeon following a clinical diagnosis.

Seas and Oceans: E. Coli

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce the presence of e-coli in coastal waters.

Rory Stewart: The Environment Agency leads work to reduce pollution of coastal waters in England.   E.coli is monitored in coastal waters that are protected as bathing waters or shellfish protected areas.   Over the next five years, water companies in England plan to invest £350 million in meeting the standards of the revised Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC), and planning for work to improve shellfish protected areas will be finalised later this year. The Environment Agency will continue to work with land managers to reduce agricultural pollution, and with those able to take action on diffuse pollution.   Responsibility for water quality in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is devolved to their respective administrations.

Japanese Knotweed: Weed Control

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to eradicate knotweed.

George Eustice: There are no plans to attempt a national eradication of Japanese knotweed because the cost using current techniques would be prohibitively expensive (estimated to be at least £1.5 billion) and likely to be unsuccessful given the widespread distribution of the species.   However, since 2011, Defra has provided grant aid to several local action groups throughout England to reduce or eradicate invasive non-native species locally, including Japanese knotweed.   Additionally, Defra is funding research to make a biocontrol agent available to control the plant, and has identified the psyllid, Aphalara itadori. To date that research has not shown significant or sustainable impacts, because only small populations of the psyllid have survived in the wild. However, a new release programme is being undertaken this summer in riparian areas where humidity is higher, utilising local action groups to aid release.   Furthermore, the recent provision of Community Protection notices, provided for in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, are also available for use by local authorities to control or prevent the growth of Japanese knotweed where they are satisfied that there is a case to do so.

Lynx

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with sporting and shooting bodies on proposals to introduce lynx into the UK.

Rory Stewart: No discussions of this kind have taken place with representatives of the sporting and shooting bodies.

Birds of Prey

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to protect the song bird and pigeon population by controlling and reducing the numbers of birds of prey.

Rory Stewart: In England, there are provisions under Section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which allow for the control of wild birds, such as birds of prey, to conserve other wild birds e.g. songbirds. Licence applications are dealt with on a case by case basis and priority must be given to non-lethal methods.   There is however no evidence that predation of songbirds by birds of prey is a major contributory factor in their decline at a national scale. There are no provisions under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which permit licences to be granted to control birds of prey to protect racing pigeons.   As nature conservation is a devolved matter, the Department for the Environment of Northern Ireland should be approached regarding its wildlife legislation and policy regarding the control of birds of prey.

Food: Waste

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will introduce legislative proposals to prevent supermarkets from throwing away food after it has passed its best-before date.

Rory Stewart: The Government favours a voluntary approach to the prevention of food waste, including the redistribution of surplus food to feed people. A law focused on the redistribution of surplus food from supermarkets would not resolve the barriers to redistribution. Less than 2% of overall food waste is from supermarkets, so our approach is to work with the whole supply chain through the voluntary Courtauld Commitment.   Action under the Courtauld Commitment has contributed to a 15% reduction of household food waste between 2007 and 2012 and a reduction of 7.4% in supply chain food waste between 2010 and 2012. The amount of food redistributed in the UK under the Commitment doubled between 2011 and 2013.

Conservation of Seals Act 1970

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been convicted of offences under (a) section 1, (1), (b), section 2, (c) section 3 and (d) section 8 of the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 in each of the last four years; and how many of those convicted were fined the maximum amount stipulated for those offences.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been convicted of offences under (a) section 1(1), (b) section 2, (c) section 3 and (d) section 8 of the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 in each of the last four years; and how many such people were fined the maximum amount stipulated for those offences.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been convicted of offences under Article 3 of the Seal Products Regulations 2010 in each of the last four years; and how many such people were fined the maximum amount stipulated for that offence.

Rory Stewart: There were no convictions under the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 or Article 3 of the Seal Products Regulations 2010 in England and Wales from 2011 to 2014. Therefore no fines were issued.   However, this relates to prosecutions where these offences were the principal ones. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. Therefore, the figures may not fully reflect the number of offences committed under legislation to protect seals.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Pay

Stewart McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her Answer of 23 June 2015 to Question 3146, how many staff working at her Department for contractors do not earn the living wage; what services such staff deliver; and whether her Department plans to become an accredited living wage employer.

George Eustice: As at December 2014, 253 outsourced staff, employed by contractors with the central Department to provide office and building services in the central Department and its agencies, were paid below the Living Wage.   Defra pays the living wage to all its permanent employees and I am working with my officials on plans to extend this to cover those staff who work for contractors.

Biodiversity

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will conduct a review into the biodiversity of the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: Biodiversity is a devolved matter. In England, we will take forward our manifesto commitment to produce a 25 year strategy for the environment, which will include biodiversity. Over the next five years we will spend £3 billion from the Common Agricultural Policy to enhance England’s countryside, enabling us, among other things, to clean up our rivers and lakes, protect our stonewalls and hedges, and help our bees to thrive. We will ensure that our public forests and woodland are kept in trust for the nation and plant another 11 million trees. Since 2010, we have created over 67,000 hectares of priority habitats such as arable field margins, wetlands and woodlands. We have also maintained over 95% of our Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – our most important sites for wildlife – in favourable or recovering condition and put in place Marine Conservation Zones to supplement the stretches of our sea that are already marine protected areas.   With regards to an assessment of the country’s biodiversity, our indicators are updated each year and are available online: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/england-biodiversity-indicators.

Biodiversity

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to preserve biodiversity of the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: Biodiversity is a devolved matter. In England, we will take forward our manifesto commitment to produce a 25 year strategy for the environment, which will include biodiversity. Over the next five years we will spend £3 billion from the Common Agricultural Policy to enhance England’s countryside, enabling us, among other things, to clean up our rivers and lakes, protect our stonewalls and hedges, and help our bees to thrive. We will ensure that our public forests and woodland are kept in trust for the nation and plant another 11 million trees. Since 2010, we have created over 67,000 hectares of priority habitats such as arable field margins, wetlands and woodlands. We have also maintained over 95% of our Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – our most important sites for wildlife – in favourable or recovering condition and put in place Marine Conservation Zones to supplement the stretches of our sea that are already marine protected areas.   With regards to an assessment of the country’s biodiversity, our indicators are updated each year and are available online: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/england-biodiversity-indicators.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the badger cull at preventing bovine tuberculosis; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Under Defra’s Strategy for achieving bovine TB free status for England, we are currently deploying a package of interventions including culling. Due to the complexity of the disease, most of the effects of intervention will only be seen several years after their introduction.For more detailed information on cattle herd incidence levels, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by Lord Gardiner of Kimble to Lord Hoyle, PQ HL228 on 16 June, which provides information on levels of bovine TB incidence between 2012 and 2014 in Somerset and Gloucestershire.

Home Office

Radicalism

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to speed up the process of removing Muslim extremists living in the UK.

James Brokenshire: We seek to deport or remove foreign nationals whose presence in the UK is contrary to the public interest, including those who hold extremist views. The Government takes very seriously the need to respond to the threat from all types of extremism.In April a number of changes to the appeals and removals system introduced by the Immigration Act 2014 came into effect. These include the streamlining of the appeals process and a single power of removal to mitigate the abusive use of the judicial system by immigration offenders to obstruct their removal or deportation. These measures apply equally to foreign nationals whose character and conduct is unacceptable, including those engaged in extremism. Such individuals would be liable to removal and have any existing leave or status in the UK revoked. British nationals cannot be removed or deported from the UK.

Police Custody: Restraint Techniques

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the (a) number of instances where restraint was used against people in police custody, (b) age, ethnicity and gender of those people so restrained and (c) number of such people who were experiencing mental ill health when so restrained in the last five years.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 02 July 2015



There is no single reporting mechanism for all police forces on all use of force and the Home Office does not currently routinely collect information on the use of restraint in relation to people in police custody.Work is underway with a number of forces on a voluntary basis to improve information held locally about those who are detained by the police under section 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983. Five forces have to date provided some initial information for the months of April and May in relation to the age, gender and ethnicity of such individuals held in police custody and whether restraint was used.The Government is clear that any use of restraint must be lawful, proportionate and necessary in all circumstances. All front line officers must pass personal safety training annually. If they do not pass the training, they are not authorised to use restraint techniques. We strongly recommend that forces follow the National Personal Safety Manual published by the Association of Chief Police Officers. The police must be able to use force to protect the public, vulnerable people and themselves. It is for police to determine when the use of restraint is necessary. Local oversight of the use of restraint should enable forces to understand when and how they are using force and in what situations.The use of force by the police needs to be transparent and open to scrutiny. At the Black Mental Health and Home Office Summit on 23 October, the Home Secretary announced that the national policing lead, Chief Constable David Shaw will conduct an in-depth review of the publication of Taser data and other use of force by police officers. This will present options for publishing the data on how police officers are deploying these sensitive powers, who they are being used on and what the outcome was.

Home Office: Directors

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) names and (b) previous occupations are of the non-executive member of the Home Office Board.

Karen Bradley: Sue Langley, OBE and Alan Brown are the non-executive members of the Home Office Board.Sue Langley is currently the CEO of the Government's UK Financial Services Investment Organisation. She is a Non Executive Director for UKAR (Northern Rock Asset Management and Bradford and Bingley) and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee.Previously she was Director of Market Development and a member of the Executive Team for Lloyd's of London, a Director of Lloyd’s Asia and Chairman of Lloyd’s Japan. Prior to this Sue was Chief Operating Officer and a member of the executive team for the Hiscox Group, holding various board positions. She joined Hiscox from PriceWaterhouseCoopers where she was a Principal Consultant and worked with a range of FTSE 100 companies. Sue is a representative on the Women's Business Council. She is a Vice President of the Insurance Institute of London.Alan Brown is currently Chief Executive Officer at ASCO – an international oilfield support services company and a global provider of outsourced logistics services to the oil and gas industry. He is a non- executive director of Intertek, the FTSE 100-listed testing inspection and certification business.Previously, Alan was Chief Executive Officer of Rentokil Initial plc for five years until October 2013. Alan spent 25 years at Unilever plc, in various roles in the UK and Europe and then CEO of Unilever’s operations in Taiwan and then China. Following this, Alan returned to the UK as Chief Financial Officer at Imperial Chemical Industries plc.

Surveillance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many surveillance warrants she signed (a) between 2010 and 2015 and (b) since 7 May 2015.

Mr John Hayes: Section 42 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) provides that intrusive surveillance by the intelligence agencies can only be carried out under the authority of a warrant signed by a Secretary of State. Under section 42(2), RIPA also allows the Secretary of State to make a combined authorisation of intrusive surveillance and interference with property (under the Intelligence Services Act 1994).The exercise of these powers is subject to scrutiny by the Intelligence Services Commissioner and is covered in his Annual Reports, which include statistics for the number of warrants signed by Secretaries of State. These reports, including the most recent one published on 25 June 2015, can be found at: www.intelligencecommissioner.com.For reasons of national security, it has been the practice of successive governments not to publish more detailed breakdowns of the number of warrants authorised under section 42 of RIPA.As the Right Honourable Member will be aware, directed surveillance authorisations, and intrusive surveillance authorisations for agencies other than the intelligence agencies, are not issued by the Secretary of State.

Home Office: Sick Leave

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many days of sick leave employees in her Department took in 2014.

Karen Bradley: Each Department reports its sick leave to Cabinet Office as part of a twelve month rolling year figure; this allows for comparisons to be made across the civil service, taking into account both the size and employee profile of each Department.In 2014 176,665 working days were lost due to sick absence, an average working days lost of 6.88 per staff year. The Department was amongst the best across government when compared to other 'large' and 'very large' Departments and the civil service average was 7.4 for the same period.

Home Office: Directors

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) names and (b) salaries are of officials of director general rank in her Department.

Karen Bradley: The names and salaries of officials of director general rank are published in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts. These are available for the 2013/14 financial year at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/321446/ARA_web_enabled_18_June.pdfI am unable to disclose financial data for 2014/15 until the Home Office’s 2014/15 Annual Report and Accounts are published. These will be published on www.gov.uk in due course.

Home Office: Public Appointments

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will place in the Library a list of all public appointments made by her Department between 1 January 2015 and 1 May 2015.

Karen Bradley: The Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies April 2012 requires government departments to publicise successful appointments, once made by the appointing Minister. These can be found on the Department’s gov.uk website or the appointing body’s website.

Offences against Children

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2015 to Question 326, if she will make it her policy to make available additional resources for responding to child abuse allegations over the next 12 months.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 06 July 2015



We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat which means that police forces and Police and Crime Commissioners must have in place the capabilities they need to protect children from sexual abuse. In 2015/16 we have already provided an additional £10 million to the National Crime Agency for the creation of more specialist teams to tackle online child sexual exploitation. We have also made available £1.7 million to fund Operation Hydrant, which coordinates the handling of multiple historical child sexual abuse investigations specifically concerning institutions or persons of public prominence, and up to £1.5 million to support regional coordinators and analysts to oversee the implementation of the National Policing Plan for tackling Child Sexual Exploitation.

Police: Ethnic Groups

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of police officers in England and Wales at the rank of superintendent or above are black, Asian or minority ethnic.

Mike Penning: As at 31 March 2014, 49 police officers in the 43 police forces in England and Wales at the rank of superintendent or above were black, Asian or minority ethnic. This represents 3.7% of all officers at these ranks.The Government’s reforms, including innovative schemes such as Direct Entry and Police Now, are making the police workforce more diverse than ever before, and showing that it is possible to achieve better representation while attracting the best and the brightest into policing.

Chlorine Dioxide

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2015 to Question 3371, whether the police have considered the threat of harm to children posed by those who promote chlorine dioxide as a medicine; what action was taken as a result of such investigations; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The police do not routinely record cases of the administration of chlorine dioxide to children nor are records collected centrally. Chlorine dioxide is not an illegal substance but it can be harmful especially if consumed and particularly in the case of children.This may lead to offences of child cruelty being considered, requiring a wider safeguarding response. If the police become aware of a threat to the safety and wellbeing of a child they would investigate in partnership with children’s services and relevant partners and consider the best course of action. Such a threat could include any harm caused by the administration of a potentially noxious substance. Each case would be judged on its merits.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to (a) increase the awareness of and (b) use notices under section 61 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 for the police to remove Travellers from public land.

Mike Penning: New Government guidance was issued jointly by the Department of Communities and Local Government, Home Office and the Ministry of Justice in March 2015. This was sent under cover of a joint ministerial letter to council leaders, chief constables and police and crime commissioners highlighting the range of powers available when dealing with illegal and unauthorised encampments.Both documents can be found in the Library of the House and online at:Cover letter: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unauthorised-encampmentsDealing with illegal and unauthorised encampments - A summary of available powers: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-illegal-and-unauthorised-encampmentsThe police have clear duties under the Equalities Act and Human Rights Act to consider before using powers to move unauthorised travellers, which are reflected in operational guidance. The use of Section 61 notices of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 is an operational matter for the police.

Police

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to increase police visibility.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 06 July 2015



The decision as to how local policing teams are resourced, deployed and the duties those officers undertake is an operational matter for the relevant Chief Constable, in association with their Police and Crime Commissioner. This flexible approach allows forces to respond to the individual needs and priorities of their local communities.

Driving under Influence

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the police is of a (a) breath, (b) blood and (c) urine test performed on a person suspected of drink driving.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold this information. The enforcement of drink driving is an operational matter for the police and any costs associated with enforcement activity will inevitably vary between forces.

Police Community Support Officers

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of Police Community Support Officers working for police forces in (a) Sheffield, (b) Yorkshire and (c) the UK in (i) 2010 and (ii) on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Mike Penning: The Home Office collects data on the number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) employed by each police force in England and Wales. The number of PCSOs for Sheffield Basic Command Unit (BCU) was only collected until March 2012.The accompanying data tables show the number of PCSOs in each police force in the Yorkshire and Humber region, and the total for all forces across England & Wales, as at 30 September 2014 (the latest available figure) and 31 March 2010. The Home Office does not hold officer numbers for Scotland or Northern Ireland. Figures for Sheffield BCU are also included for March 2010.As HMIC has made clear, there is no simple link between police numbers and crime levels, between numbers and the visibility of police in the community, or between numbers and the quality of service provided.



PCSOs  in the Yorkshire & Humber region
(Excel SpreadSheet, 21 KB)

Police Remuneration Review Body

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the set-up costs of the Police Remuneration Review Body were.

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual running costs of the Police Remuneration Pay Review Body have been since the formation of that body.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 06 July 2015



The Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) shares the same members and secretariat as the National Crime Agency Remuneration Review Body (NCARRB). The NCARRB was established in October 2013 and the PRRB was established in September 2014.The set up costs for the PRRB were £118,337.47.In 2013/14, the running costs of the Review Body were £142,354.55, all of which was in respect of the NCA remit.In 2014/15, the running costs were £355,984.35, of which £213,590.61 was attributable to the PRRB, as the Review Body considered the policing remit for the first time.

Police: Pensions

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the revised commutation factors for the police pension scheme will be published.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 06 July 2015



As the Scheme actuary, the Government Actuary will review the commutation factors to maintain the actuarial equivalence required under Regulation B7(7) of the Police Pensions Regulations 1987.There is no set timeframe in which such reviews must be carried out. These reviews can be prompted by changes to one or more underlying factors (such as longevity), and can be affected by further changes while they are being carried out. The Government Actuary can, and does, carry out reviews as and when he judges necessary.In light of the recent Pensions Ombudsman judgement relating to the case of a retired fire-fighter and the review of commutation factors between 2001 and 2006, the Government Actuary’s Department will be publishing revised factors for that period shortly.

Domestic Violence: Homicide

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women in each of the last five years were killed by their current or former partner.

Mike Penning: The available information is given in the table and is taken from the Home Office Homicide Index.Data are based on the number of homicides where the female victim’s relationship to the principal suspect was defined as partner or ex-partner.



Recorded homicide - female victims
(Excel SpreadSheet, 36 KB)

101 Calls

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what average time was taken to answer calls made to the 101 police non-emergency number in (a) the UK and (b) South Yorkshire in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of calls to the 101 police non-emergency number were dropped calls in (a) South Yorkshire and (b) the UK in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 06 July 2015



Data on total 101 calls received, average time to answer and caller abandonment rates (the proportion of calls that do not get answered before the caller hangs up) has been published on www.Police.uk since April 2014. The Home Office does not hold data before this date, this data is held by local forces.Each individual police force is responsible for ensuring that calls transferred from 101 are answered within their local service standards. Due to different recording practices between forces, the number of directly comparable forces is small and may not represent a national average. From analysis of the data available from April to December 2014, of the 25 forces comparable to South Yorkshire, over the same period, the abandonment rate was 7.5% of calls.In South Yorkshire the average abandonment rate in the nine months April to December 2014 was 7.1% (5133.) Data on total 101 calls received, average time to answer and caller abandonment rates (the proportion of calls that do not get answered before the caller hangs up) has been published on www.Police.uk since April 2014.The Home Office does not hold data before this date, this data is held by local forces. Each individual police force is responsible for ensuring that calls transferred from 101 are answered within their local service standards.Due to different recording practices between forces, the number of directly comparable forces is small and may not represent a national average. From analysis of the data available from April to December 2014, of the 19 forces directly comparable to South Yorkshire in terms of types of call recorded, the average answering time was 36 seconds. In South Yorkshire the average answering time in the nine months April to December 2014 was 39 seconds.

Drugs

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications of banning all psychoactive substances on medical research.

Mike Penning: The Psychoactive Substances Bill, introduced in the House of Lords on 28 May 2015, will tackle the reckless trade in psychoactive substances. The Government attaches a high priority to bona fide scientific research. Schedule 1 to the Bill already excludes all investigational medicinal products and research regulated by the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004.The Government is engaging with the scientific community so that those conducting bona fide research which involves the human consumption of psychoactive substances fall outside of the scope of the Bill, and expect to table Government amendments on this issue.

Illegal Immigrants: France

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many commercial drivers (a) have been and (b) are in the process of being fined for bringing people illegally into the UK via North East France in (i) the last month, (ii) between the last one and six months and (iii) between the last six and 12 months.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Passports: Children

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many members of staff worked in HM Passport Office processing applications for first passports for UK children born overseas in May (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013, (e) 2014 and (f) 2015; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Passports: Children

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many first passports have been issued to British children born overseas in each of the last three years; what the average length of time was to process applications from each overseas country in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: Cheshire

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers were employed in Cheshire on 31 March 2015.

Mike Penning: Data on the number of police officers employed by Cheshire police force on 31 March 2015 are due to be published by the Home Office on 16 July 2015.The latest available figures are for 30 September 2014, when there were 1,896 full-time equivalent police officers employed by Cheshire police force.

Mobile Phones: Telephone Tapping

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, under what statute and what warranty system the use of IMSI catchers is permitted to intercept communications and communications data.

Mike Penning: The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 makes it an offence for a person to interfere with wireless telegraphy or to use wireless telegraphy with intent to obtain information as to the contents, sender or addressee of a message of which neither he nor a person on whose behalf he is acting is an intended recipient, without lawful authority.Investigative activity involving interference with property or wireless telegraphy is regulated by the Police Act 1997 and the Intelligence Services Act 1994 which sets out the high level of authorisation required before the police or security and intelligence agencies can undertake such activity. Use of these powers is overseen by the Intelligence Services Commissioner and the Office of Surveillance Commissioners.Interception of communications in the course of their transmission is governed by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

Drugs: Smuggling

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the size of the international trade of illegal drugs and narcotics; and what steps the Government is taking to reduce such trade.

Mr John Hayes: Holding answer received on 07 July 2015



The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) conducts assessments on the size of the international trade in illegal drugs on behalf of UN Member States. Its most recent assessment – the 2015World Drug Report - was published on 26 June. It can be accessed at: www.unodc.org/wdr2015The Government works closely with a wide range of international partners to tackle the international drugs trade. Our work - which involves the sharing of expertise and information and the provision of capacity building - is helping to disrupt the criminal networks involved in drug trafficking.

Drugs

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria she plans to apply to determine which psychoactive substances are not covered by the proposed psychoactive substances ban.

Mike Penning: To protect young people and others from exposure to potentially dangerous substances, the Psychoactive Substances Bill provides for a blanket ban on the supply of psychoactive substances.The Bill captures substances supplied for human consumption for their psychoactive effects. Schedule 1 to the Bill contains a wide list of exemptions, developed in conjunction with other government departments, capturing substances already controlled by existing regulation such as food, alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and medicines.Further substances can be exempted following consultation between the Secretary of State, the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs and other consultees as considered appropriate.The Government does not support a regime which allows for the regulated sale of so called ‘low harm’ psychoactive substances and the regulation-making power in clause 3 is not designed for such a purpose (as evidenced by the absence of any associated provisions in the Bill to regulate the sale of approved ‘low harm’ psychoactive substances).

HM Treasury

Welfare Tax Credits

Ann Coffey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to enable disputes relating to tax credits to be dealt with by email correspondence.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) cannot guarantee that emails sent between HMRC and customers will not be intercepted. Disputes of this nature usually include confidential customer data that neither the customer nor HMRC would wish to put at risk of interception. Therefore HMRC does not encourage email as a form of communication with customers.   However HMRC does recognise the demand for more digital communication with customers. As part of HMRC’s Digital Roadmap they will be introducing a secure personal digital account through which income tax, national insurance and tax credit services can be accessed.   Within the accounts will be a range of service options allowing customers to not only self-serve but also communicate with HMRC digitally through web chat and secure messaging.

VAT

Justin Madders: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent representations his Department has received on extending the scope of value added tax.

Mr David Gauke: HM Treasury has received representations welcoming the government’s commitment to bring forward legislation to ensure there are no rises in income tax rates, value added tax or National Insurance for the duration of the Parliament.

National Insurance: Telephone Services

Jim Shannon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to increase the number of staff employed to answer telephone national insurance enquiries during peak times in April and October each year.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regularly deploys its staff to support increases in customer demand across all helplines, including national insurance.   The department has allocated £45 million, supporting the recruitment of an additional 3,000 customer service staff to answer calls and deal with customer correspondence. HMRC is also temporarily moving around 2,000 additional people from other parts of HMRC into customer service roles to support the tax credits peak.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what details of the new Tax-Free Childcare scheme his Department has sent to all Ofsted-registered childcare providers.

Damian Hinds: HMRC and HMT have actively engaged with childcare providers and industry representatives since the scheme was first announced and continue to do so as it moves towards implementation. HMRC has also established an implementation advisory forum to support the delivery of Tax-Free Childcare, on which the childcare sector is well represented, and is working closely with regulators   In addition, draft guidance on the scheme was published for comment in October 2014 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-legislation-tax-free-childcare-draft-guidance . Further information will be issued well ahead of the launch of the scheme.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Guto Bebb: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what provision his Department has made in the sales prospectus for RBS for consequential losses arising from the FCA interest rate hedging product mis-selling redress scheme.

Guto Bebb: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what provision his Department has made in the sales prospectus for RBS shares for the cost of litigation (a) that has commenced and (b) that complainants have given notice of their plans to commence in respect of interest rate swap mis-selling.

Harriett Baldwin: As detailed by the Chancellor in his speech to the Mansion House, the Government has decided to begin a sale of its shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).   The Government’s shareholding in RBS is managed at arm’s length from HM Treasury by UK Financial Investments (UKFI). UKFI will be responsible for the design and execution of any future sale.   Provision for the potential impact of regulatory fines or penalties is regularly published by RBS as part of the bank’s accounts process. This information is available to any prospective investor.

Pitcairn Islands: Marine Protected Areas

Mrs Caroline Spelman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.259 of Budget 2015, HC 1093, which Department has been allocated as lead Department for the implementation of a marine reserve around the Pitcairn Islands.

Greg Hands: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is leading on the implementation of a Marine Protected Area around the Pitcairn Islands.

Banks: Greece

Nick Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his contribution of 29 June 2015, Official Report, column 1221, on Greece, how many UK citizens resident in (a) the UK and (b) Greece hold accounts with Greek banks.

Harriett Baldwin: The Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the position in relation to British residents in Greece, as part of his statement to House on 29 June.   The Chancellor updated the House on the situation in Greece on 6 July.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Mary Creagh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department has allocated to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank for each year from 2015 to 2018.

Harriett Baldwin: The information requested is published in the AIIB Articles of Agreement and is available at www.aiibank.org.

Social Security Benefits

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) tax credits and (b) child benefit claims are paid into Coutts bank accounts.

Damian Hinds: This information is not available without incurring disproportionate cost.

Non-domestic Rates

Mr Clive Betts: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when all challenges to the 2005 Rating List for England and Wales will be finally resolved.

Mr David Gauke: 99.7% of the outstanding appeals against the 2005 Rating List in England and Wales have been cleared.   Of the cases that remain, many involve complex litigation, with lead cases that are still to be resolved by the Valuation Tribunal for England or Wales or the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber). Once the lead cases are resolved, many of the remaining cases will also be cleared.

Multinational Companies: Taxation

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to make country-by-country tax reporting rules publicly available.

Mr David Gauke: The UK introduced legislation in Finance Bill 2015 in order to implement the G20-OECD model for Country-by-Country reporting. This will require multinational companies to provide information on the global allocation of income, economic activity and taxes, and will give tax authorities a clear picture of a multinational company’s global business, whilst ensuring the administrative costs for businesses are minimised.  The OECD model for Country-by-Country reporting to tax authorities is for high level risk assessment purposes and includes protections to ensure sensitive information remains confidential. Making the reporting information public would not enhance risk assessment for tax authorities. The UK has however transposed the EU Capital Requirements Directive IV, which requires public reporting for the banking and capital markets industry.  The European Commission has launched a public consultation on this issue and will evaluate the costs and benefits of different forms of Country-by-Country reporting, including the public disclosure of this information. The UK will be interested in understanding their findings.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Department of Energy and Climate Change: Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which buildings occupied by her Department are owned or part-owned privately; what the total value is of the rent paid to private landlords for the use of such buildings for official duties; and to whom such rent is paid.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) currently occupies, wholly or partly, four buildings in London and one in Aberdeen. These buildings form the Core Estate of the Department and are currently required in order for DECC to carry out its business.In London, DECC fully occupies ‘3 Whitehall Place’ and ‘55 Whitehall’, whilst partly occupying space at ‘Kings Buildings’ (3.5 floors of 9 floor building) and ‘One Victoria St’ (approx. 500SqM).3 Whitehall Place – DECC pay rent to the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) who lease from a private landlord.55 Whitehall – DECC pay rent to the Crown Estate (landlord).Kings Buildings – DECC pay rent to Transport for London (TFL) who lease from a private landlord.One Victoria St – DECC pay rent to the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) who lease from a private landlord.In Aberdeen, DECC partly occupies space at Atholl House’ (2 floors of a 7 floor building) – DECC pay rent to BIS who lease from a private landlord.In all cases above, the Department cannot release the value of these rental payments as this is considered commercially sensitive information.As part of the Government’s Strategic Land & Property Review (SLPR), all Departments are working to reduce property costs either by exiting leasehold agreements or by selling/sub-letting freeholds. As part of this, DECC plan to amalgamate all of its London staff in 3 Whitehall Place and 55 Whitehall during this financial year, thereby exiting Kings Buildings and One Victoria St. This will be achieved by creating a ‘smarter’, more flexible way of working.The Government Property Unit (GPU) has created a portal - Find Me Some Government Space (https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property) - for more efficient marketing of surplus land and buildings. This is searchable by developers, community groups and the general public.Further information on the the efficiency and sustainability of property in the government's civil estate is published in our State of the Estate Report 2013 - 2014 available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-estate-2014.

Department of Energy and Climate Change: Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of the office space owned or leased by her Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such office space; and if she will place in the Library a copy of her most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) has no office space which is not in regular use.All of DECC’s property is leased aside from 55 Whitehall. This is a Crown Estate building. The Department cannot release real estate valuation as this is considered to be commercially sensitive.

Wind Power

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many onshore wind turbines there were in (a) Cumbria and (b) the UK in (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14

Andrea Leadsom: In Cumbria there were 119 onshore wind turbines at the end of March 2013 and 128 turbines at the end of March 2014.In the UK there were 3959 onshore wind turbines at the end of March 2013 and 4374 turbines at the end of March 2014.Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), May 2015 extract:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-energy-planning-database-monthly-extract Please note that the REPD captures projects entering planning that are 1MW or larger. Therefore, there may be additional onshore wind turbines not captured by the figures given above where these are smaller than 1MW.

Energy: Conservation

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to help (a) households and (b) businesses improve their energy efficiency.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is determined to improve the energy efficiency of homes and businesses.We need a long-term, coherent and affordable policy framework for households which ensures that Government support is targeted at those who need it most. The Department is already working closely with consumer groups and industry alike to test and develop ideas, based on evidence of what works and I look forward to setting out our approach in due courseWe also recognise the significant potential for businesses to improve energy efficiency. Policies such as the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) encourage energy efficiency in business. This is in addition to a range of offers including the Enhanced Capital Allowance tax scheme for businesses and the voluntary Climate Change Agreements for the energy intensive sectors which allow up to 90% reduction from the Climate Change Levy in return for signing up to stretching energy efficiency improvement targets agreed with Government.

Wind Power

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of her plans to end the Renewable Obligation for onshore wind in 2016 on (a) the date by which onshore wind is expected to reach grid parity and (b) the ability of communities to generate their own power from onshore wind; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: Onshore wind has made a valuable contribution to the UK energy mix in recent years but there is now enough capacity in the pipeline to help the UK to meet its 2020 renewable electricity commitments.DECC publishes estimates of levelised costs of various generation technologies, with projections to 2030. The levelised cost of a particular generation technology is the ratio of the total costs of a generic plant to the total amount of electricity expected to be generated over the plant’s lifetime (per megawatt hour). The latest published figures, including figures for onshore wind, are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269888/131217_Electricity_Generation_costs_report_December_2013_Final.pdf.It’s difficult to be certain about the point at which onshore wind will reach grid parity because of, for example, uncertainty on future electricity prices and different costs for different sizes of projects. Our estimate is that some projects may reach parity with wholesale electricity prices in the latter half of this decade or early 2020s, depending on the electricity price scenario used and the speed of cost reductions, as well as characteristics of the individual wind farm.We are keen that community projects should be able to access a support scheme to help them to deploy small scale renewables and will consider how we can continue to support community wind projects as part of a review of the feed-in tariffs that will be undertaken this year.

Wind Power: Subsidies

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to her contribution of 22 June 2015, Official Report, column 618, on onshore wind subsidies, when details of the remote island Contract for Difference strike price will be published.

Andrea Leadsom: The EMR Delivery Plan 2013 provides details on the approach to Remote Island onshore wind and includes administrative strike prices for this technology for 2017/18 and 2018/19.The publication can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/268221/181213_2013_EMR_Delivery_Plan_FINAL.pdfThe State Aid approval for the CFD for Renewables scheme did not include Remote Island Wind. The UK Government continues to work with the European Commission to secure State aid approval for this technology.We intend to publish strike prices in advance of the next allocation round. Subject to State Aid approval this will include strike prices for Remote Island onshore wind.

Energy: Income

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information her Department has received from the six largest energy companies on the level of their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation from electricity (a) generation and (b) supply in (i) 2014 and (ii) 2015.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department does not hold information pertaining to the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of energy generation assets other than material already in the public domain.

Microgeneration

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of UK energy was supplied by microgeneration in each of the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: DECC does not routinely produce figures specifically for energy supplied by micro-generation technologies (defined as electricity schemes of up to 50 kW of capacity, and heat up to 45 kW). The table below shows an estimate of energy generated by renewable micro-generation (and a small amount of, non-renewable, micro CHP) under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), the Great Britain Feed in Tariff (FiT) scheme and the Renewables Obligation (RO) (including Northern Ireland). It does not therefore include micro-generation from the majority of non-renewable sources. This is compared with total UK energy production for the corresponding financial years, beginning with 2010/11, the first year of the FiT scheme.  RHI heat generation (up to 45 kW schemes only)(GWh)FiTs electricity generation(up to 50 kW schemes only) (GWh)RO electricity generation(up to 50 kW schemes only)(GWh)Total renewable energy micro-generation (GWh)Total energy production (GWh)Renewable Micro-generation proportion of energy production2010/11 498571,792,5070.00%2011/120.0393134061,545,5490.03%2012/133.31,253341,2901,385,7570.09%2013/1411.01,920441,9751,337,3350.15%Notes:FiTs covers installations up to 5 MW, so overall generation figures for these schemes have been adjusted by the proportion of micro-generation within overall FiTs capacity at the end of each year.FiTs and RO data are not yet available for 2014/15, so that year has not been included.Source:Feed in Tariffs data from FiTs annual reports, available at:https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/feed-tariff-fit-scheme/feed-tariff-reports/annual-reportsFeed in Tariffs deployment data, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/monthly-small-scale-renewable-deploymentRenewables Obligation generation data from table ET 6.3, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-section-6-renewablesTotal energy production from table ET 1.1, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/total-energy-section-1-energy-trendsRHI statistics are published monthly and are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/renewable-heat-incentive-renewable-heat-premium-payment-statistics.

Fossil Fuels

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will initiate an inquiry into the relationship between the price of petrol and the cost of oil.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 07 July 2015



Movements in pump prices are primarily driven by the underlying price of crude oil, though are also influenced by a range of other supply and demand factors, including refining capacity, stock levels, distribution costs, retail margins and seasonal demand variations.DECC analysis suggests that on average, at a national level, crude price changes are fully passed through into pump prices within 6-7 weeks; though much of the change is passed through earlier.The Government is absolutely clear that it expects changes in crude prices to be passed on fairly to consumers. DECC continuously monitors pump prices, and publish average prices of petrol and diesel every Monday, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/oil-and-petroleum-products-weekly-statistics.Movements in pump prices are primarily driven by the underlying price of crude oil, though are also influenced by a range of other supply and demand factors, including refining capacity, stock levels, distribution costs, retail margins and seasonal demand variations.DECC analysis suggests that on average, at a national level, crude price changes are fully passed through into pump prices within 6-7 weeks; though much of the change is passed through earlier.The Government is absolutely clear that it expects changes in crude prices to be passed on fairly to consumers. DECC continuously monitors pump prices, and publish average prices of petrol and diesel every Monday, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/oil-and-petroleum-products-weekly-statistics.

Department of Energy and Climate Change: Press

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, to which periodicals and newspapers her Department subscribes; how many copies of each such periodical her Department acquires; and what the cost of subscribing to such periodicals was in 2014.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Energy and Climate Change purchases the following newspapers each week: TitleQuantityDaily Mail (M-F)10Daily Express (M-F)10Daily Mirror (M-F)10Daily Star (M-F)5Daily Telegraph (M-F)20Financial Times (M-F)20The Guardian (M-F)20The Independent (M-F)10The Sun (M-F)10The Times (M-F)10Daily Mail (Sat)1Daily Express (Sat)1Daily Mirror (Sat)1Daily Star (Sat)1Daily Telegraph (Sat)1The Guardian (Sat)1The Sun (Sat)1The Independent (Sat)1The Times (Sat)1FT Weekend1Sunday Mirror1The Observer1The Sun on Sunday1Sunday People1Sunday Express1The Independent on Sunday1The Mail on Sunday1The Sunday Times1Weekly Total143The total amount spent on newspapers for Financial Year 2014-15 was £10,664.25 (including VAT).There are no central records of periodical subscriptions and associated spend.

Cabinet Office

Employment

John Stevenson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people live in England and work in (a) Scotland and (b) Wales.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



UKSA Letter to Member - Living/Working Elsewhere
(PDF Document, 26.99 KB)

Conditions of Employment

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people on zero-hours contracts in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK.

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people aged between 16 and 24 in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have been on zero-hours contracts in each of the last five years.

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have been on zero-hours contracts in each of the last five years.

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many hours in a month an employee on a zero-hours contract has to work to be counted as employed in monthly employment statistics.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



UKSA Letter to Member - Zero Hour Contracts
(PDF Document, 205.06 KB)

Schizophrenia: Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of schizophrenia patients who die by suicide each year.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



UKSA Letter to Member - Schizophrenia Deaths
(PDF Document, 65.31 KB)

Cancer

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) England who have been diagnosed with (i) bladder, (ii) kidney and (iii) prostate cancer, in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



UKSA Letter to Member - Cancer
(PDF Document, 77.58 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Tour de France

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support legacy initiatives from the 2014 Tour de France.

Tracey Crouch: Government, Sport England, local authorities and British Cycling have invested over £5.6 million to get more people cycling in Yorkshire as part of the 2014 Tour de France legacy. Welcome to Yorkshire and British Cycling are delivering legacy activity in the region through their Cycle Yorkshire strategy, which has been developed with support from Sport England.In February 2015, the Government committed £500,000 of funding to British Cycling to improve facilities in Yorkshire.A report published in December 2014 examined the economic and social impact of hosting the opening two stages of the Tour in Yorkshire and stage 3 between Cambridge and London. The 'Three Inspirational Days' report found that 4.8 million people watched the race and that the Grand Depart generated over £128m in economic benefit.

Video on Demand: Disability

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the conclusions of his Department's report, Connectivity, Content and Consumers, published in July 2013, what progress has been made in establishing and enforcing targets on subtitled and audio-description TV services for on-demand content on the 80 per cent of on-demand providers in the UK who offer no subtitles at all.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government remains committed to seeing an improvement in the provision of access services for video-on-demand (VoD) services. We have been monitoring progress of the provision of access services for VoD content since 2013 through engagement with the Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD), platform operators and content providers. Government will use information from a variety of sources to develop a target that we would expect to see reached by mid-2016. That information includes the Action on Hearing Loss, Sense and RNIB paper (April 2015). If ATVOD's 2015 annual survey of VoD services indicates that significant progress has not been made then, as stated in the Connectivity, Content and Consumers Paper (July 2013), we will consider legislation in 2016.

House of Commons Commission

Parliament: Defibrillators

Glyn Davies: To ask the hon. Member for Mole Valley representing the House of Commons Commission, where defibrillator units are located on the Parliamentary Estate; and how often they are serviced to ensure they are working.

Sir Paul Beresford: There are 18 Defibrillators across the Parliamentary estate in the following locations:Palace of WestminsterLower Waiting HallMembers’ LobbyPeers’ LobbyRiver RestaurantVictoria TowerEngineers’ ControlCromwell Green Visitor EntranceElizabeth Tower – top floorElizabeth Tower – room onePeers’ Entrance7 Millbank7 Millbank receptionHealth & Wellbeing Service (4th floor)Millbank HouseHouse of Lords Library / Reception area6/7 Old Palace YardReception (whilst this building is being refurbished the defibrillator is being held in Millbank House reception)Norman Shaw NorthReceptionCanon RowWestminster Gym14 Tothill StreetReceptionPortcullis HouseDigital Services DeskDefibrillators are checked weekly to ensure that they are working, and receive a full service annually.

Parliament: Art Works

Justin Madders: To ask the hon. Member for Mole Valley representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2015 to Question 3834, how many items were in the Parliamentary Art Collection on 31 March 2000; and what the current valuation for insurance purposes is of those items.

Sir Paul Beresford: On 31 March 2000 there were 6,704 items in the House of Commons art collection.There is no insurance valuation as the House of Commons, like the Civil Service, self-insures for these items.

Department of Health

Diabetes: Pancreatic Cancer

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of a potential link between a diagnosis of diabetes and an increased risk of pancreatic cancer.

Jane Ellison: The Department has made no recent assessment of a potential link between a diagnosis of diabetes and an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. However, it is recognised that diabetes is a risk factor for development of pancreatic cancer. This is reflected in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated guideline Suspected cancer: recognition and referral, published on 23 June 2015. This sets out that an urgent referral for a computerised tomography scan or ultrasound scan should be considered in people aged 60 or over with weight loss and new-onset diabetes.

Cystic Fibrosis: Drugs

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects NHS England's Clinical Priorities Advisory Group to reach a decision on the availability of the drug Ivacaftor for cystic fibrosis patients with one of the eight non-G551D gating mutations.

George Freeman: NHS England's Clinical Priorities Advisory Group is an advisory committee and does not make decisions.   NHS England announced on 2 July that Ivacaftor for cystic fibrosis has been approved to be routinely commissioned on the National Health Service.

Prescription Drugs

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prescriptions of individual (a) benzodiazepine drugs and (b) antidepressants were dispensed in the community in 2014.

Alistair Burt: The information requested is shown in the following tables.   Table 1: The number of benzodiazepine prescription items written in the United Kingdom and dispensed in the community in England in the year 2014, as classified as hypnotics and anxiolytics in British National Formulary (BNF) section 4.1BNF chemical namePrescription items (000s)alprazolam- 1chlordiazepoxide hydrochloride122.7diazepam5,351.5flurazepam hydrochloride- 1loprazolam mesilate56.9lorazepam1,067.2lormetazepam32.3nitrazepam741.9oxazepam122.6temazepam1,681.3Total 29,176.5 Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system data provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre 1 Less than 50 prescription items dispensed 2 Total figure may not sum due to rounding   Table 2: The number of benzodiazepine prescription items written in the United Kingdom and dispensed in the community in England in the year 2014, as classified as antiepileptic drugs in BNF section 4.8BNF chemical namePrescription items (000s)clobazam249.6clonazepam 1846.5clonazepam 20.2midazolam hydrochloride41.4midazolam maleate26.5Total 31,164.2 Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system data provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre 1 From BNF 4.8.1 Control of the epilepsies 2 From BNF 4.8.2 Drugs used in status epilepticus 3 Total figure may not sum due to rounding   Table 3: The number of benzodiazepine prescription items written in the United Kingdom and dispensed in the community in England in the year 2014, as classified as anaesthesia drugs in BNF section 15.1.4BNF chemical namePrescription items (000s)midazolam hydrochloride147.1Total 1147.1 Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system data provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre 1 Total figure may not sum due to rounding Table 4: The number of antidepressant prescription items written in the United Kingdom and dispensed in the community in England in the year 2014, as classified as antidepressant drugs in BNF section 4.3BNF Chemical NamePrescription items (000s)agomelatine22.9amitriptyline hydrochloride11,851.3citalopram hydrobromide14,055.5citalopram hydrochloride79.0clomipramine hydrochloride315.3dosulepin hydrochloride1,174.4doxepin44.9duloxetine hydrochloride1,393.9escitalopram918.8fluoxetine hydrochloride6,221.7flupentixol hydrochloride158.6fluvoxamine maleate27.7imipramine hydrochloride174.7isocarboxazid1.6lofepramine hydrochloride270.2mianserin hydrochloride4.3mirazapine6,056.8moclobemide19.5nefazodone hydrochloride0.2nortriptyline544.9other antidepressant preparations- 1oxitriptan- 1paroxetine hydrochloride1,488.8phenelzine sulphate17.8reboxetine34.3sertraline hydrochloride7,761.7tranylcypromine sulphate9.2trazodone hydrochloride1,050.0trimipramine maleate80.1tryptophan2.4venlafaxine3,367.2Total 257,147.9 Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system data provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre 1 Less than 50 prescription items dispensed 2 Total figure may not sum due to rounding

Pancreatic Cancer: Health Services

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of newly-diagnosed pancreatic cancer patients who start treatment within 62 days of diagnosis; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: National statistics are published on the proportion of patients who begin first treatment within 62 days from urgent referral for suspected cancer. No equivalent statistics are published for patients who start treatment within 62 days of diagnosis.   The data are available for major cancer groups. NHS England advises that releasing data at the more detailed cancer site levels would be reliant on detailed clinical coding and would risk disclosing patient identities.

Health Professions: Greater London

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the likely spend on agency (a) doctors and (b) nurses by (i) North Middlesex University NHS Trust and (ii) Royal Free London NHS Trust in each financial year up to 2019-20.

Ben Gummer: No such estimate has been made. These are matters for the trusts concerned.

General Practitioners: Enfield

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients in the Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group had to wait longer than 48 hours for a GP appointment in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Alistair Burt: Data on waiting times to see a general practitioner are not collected centrally.

Offences against Children

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on implementing its response to the independent health working group report on child sexual exploitation published in May 2014.

Jane Ellison: The Health Working Group Report on Child Sexual Exploitation made 13 recommendations, some of which were directed to our arm‘s length bodies and other national organisations. We set out the actions being taken in our response to the recommendations in May 2014. Some of those actions are continuing and others are completed. An update on progress will be published in due course.

Health Professions: Greater London

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was spent on agency (a) doctors and (b) nurses by (i) North Middlesex University NHS Trust and (ii) Royal Free London NHS Trust in each of the last five years.

Ben Gummer: This information is not collected centrally.   The hon. Member may wish to contact North Middlesex University Hospitals NHS Trust directly for further information.   I have written to Dominic Dodd, Chair of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, informing him of the hon. Member’s enquiry. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.   Following the Francis report many trusts increased their spend on temporary staffing to meet safe staffing levels. The Department expects trusts to have a strong grip on their finances, and manage their contract and agency staffing spend (including use of locums) responsibly through effective and efficient workforce planning and management and to minimise temporary staffing costs in future years.

General Practitioners: Accident and Emergency Departments

Harry Harpham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of a link between access to GPs and attendances at accident and emergency departments.

Alistair Burt: The Urgent and Emergency Care Review identified a number of factors that impact on accident and emergency (A&E) attendances which can include local access to general practitioners (GPs).   We are expanding access to GPs in the evenings and at the weekend. Through the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund, 18 million people will benefit from improved access, including at evenings and weekends by March 2016.   According to the latest GP Patient Survey results, published on 2 July 2015, 85.2% of patients were able to get an appointment with a GP or nurse at their surgery. 91.8% of those were able to get an appointment convenient to them. Of the 10.9% who reported that they could not get an appointment and the 8.2% who could not get an appointment that was convenient, 9.9% went to A&E or a walk-in centre.

Childbirth: Hormone Treatments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on the availability of hormone treatment to prevent premature births on the NHS.

Ben Gummer: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is developing a clinical guideline on preterm labour and birth which includes prophylactic vaginal progesterone.   This topic was referred to NICE in December 2012, as one of a large number of topics that NICE were asked to develop to support the development of a library of quality standards. It was developed with input from the Royal Colleges and subsequent consultation with stakeholders and was strongly supported by the Department’s then professional advisor in obstetrics and gynaecology.   NICE is currently consulting on its draft guideline (consultation will close on 13 July) and expects to publish its final guidance in November 2015.   Further information is available at:   www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-cgwave0660

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS (a) hip, (b) shoulder and (c) knee replacement operations were carried out in each of the last five years.

Ben Gummer: In the following table, we have provided information concerning the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)1 with a main or secondary procedure2 of hip replacement3, shoulder replacement4 or knee replacement3, for the years 2009-10 to 2013-144.   Activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector  Count of FCEsYearHip ReplacementShoulder ReplacementKnee Replacement2009-1094,9131,88076,0712010-11100,3612,25679,5252011-12104,4343,01583,3122012-13105,4993,67382,9762013-14110,6354,42285,934 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre   Notes: 1. An FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. 2. The number of episodes where the procedure (or intervention) was recorded in any of the 24 (12 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 4 prior to 2002-03) procedure fields in an HES record. A record is only included once in each count, even if the procedure is recorded in more than one procedure field of the record. Note that more procedures are carried out than episodes with a main or secondary procedure. For example, patients undergoing a ‘cataract operation’ would tend to have at least two procedures – removal of the faulty lens and the fitting of a new one – counted in a single episode. 3. A number of codes were used to identify hip, shoulder and knee replacements which include conversions and revisions to existing replacements. 4. HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. Conversely, apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information. Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity ending between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

Dementia: Carers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to minimise changes in the named carer for dementia patients.

Jane Ellison: We recognise that homecare workers provide a growing range of vital care and support services to enable people to live well with dementia in their homes. We want to see greater provision of innovative and high quality dementia care at home, delivered in a way that is personalised and appropriate to the specific needs of the person with dementia.   Where local services are concerned, clinical commissioning groups and local authorities are responsible for commissioning high quality dementia care at home based on their local population's needs and ensuing that the services they secure provide the best quality for local people.   On 21 February 2015 The Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 was published, building on the achievements of the Prime Minister’s challenge on dementia 2012-2015. The Government is clear that dementia remains a priority and will implement the 2020 Challenge in full to make sure that dementia care, support, awareness and research are transformed by 2020.

NHS England: Meetings

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the minutes of the meetings of (a) NHS England's Clinical Priorities Group which met on 25 and 26 June 2015 and (b) the Specialised Services Commissioning Committee which met on 30 June 2015.

George Freeman: NHS England has advised that there was no meeting of the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG) on the 25 and 26 June. The minutes of the CPAG meeting on 15 and 16 June and the minutes of the Specialised Commissioning Committee of 30 June will be published on NHS England’s website in due course.

Medical Treatments

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England will publish its methodology for ranking treatments to commission for ultra-rare diseases.

George Freeman: NHS England published its Prioritisation Framework for 2015/16 on 26 June 2015. A copy has been attached and it is also available on the NHS England website at:   http://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2015/06/nhse-respns-publictn-17-06-15.pdf 



NHS England Prioritisation Framework 2015/16
(PDF Document, 113.51 KB)

Mental Illness: Research

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 3297, what funds his Department has provided for general adult mental health and psychiatric research (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms and (c) as a proportion of the total research and development budget in each year since 2000.

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 3297, what funds his Department has provided for child and adolescent mental health and psychiatric research (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms and (c) as a proportion of the total research and development budget in each year since 2000.

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 3297, what funds his Department has provided for old age mental health and psychiatric research (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms and (c) as a proportion of the total research and development budget in each year since 2000.

George Freeman: The information requested is not available.   Spend on research funded directly by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘mental health’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories such as specific age groups. Further information on HRCS categories can be found on the HRCS website at:   www.hrcsonline.net/   Estimated spend on mental health research reported by National Health Service organisations prior to the establishment of the NIHR was not broken down according to relevance to specific age group.

Health Services: Impact Assessments

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what impact assessment has been undertaken on (a) the NHS Five Year Forward View, (b) the New Models of Care Programme and (c) the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Devolution deal; and where such assessments are published.

Alistair Burt: As discrete programmes of work emerge targeted at delivering aspects of the NHS Five Year Forward View, each of these, including the New Care Models programme, will be subject to normal governance procedures, including requisite impact assessments, and will be robustly and carefully evaluated against the goals of the NHS Five Year Forward View. In doing so, NHS England will be mindful of its statutory duties and those set out in its Mandate.   Similarly, with regard to the Greater Manchester proposals, the usual requirements for assessing the impact of changes will apply for individual elements of the programme.

Thromboembolism: Drugs

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the reasons are for the time taken to publish the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency review into the safety of alteplase; and when this review will be published.

George Freeman: An Expert Working Group of the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) has been established to conduct a comprehensive review of the available evidence on the use of alteplase in stroke in the United Kingdom. Evidence has been gathered from a wide range of sources and carefully evaluated. The Group’s conclusions and recommendations remain confidential while the review is ongoing and will be published after their consideration by the CHM.

Ovarian Cancer: Health Education

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of ovarian cancer.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England’s (PHE) Be Clear on Cancer (BCOC) campaigns aim to raise awareness of the symptoms of cancer and encourage symptomatic patients to present earlier. BCOC campaigns are tested at a local and regional level and are subject to a comprehensive evaluation process, the results of which are assessed thoroughly before a decision is taken on whether to run campaigns nationally throughout England.   PHE ran a regional BCOC ovarian pilot campaign from 10 February to 16 March 2014 in the North West of England Television region. The campaign was aimed at women over 50, the age group most at risk of developing ovarian cancer, and their friends and family to raise awareness of bloating as a symptom of ovarian cancer and to encourage women with this symptom to visit their general practitioner.   The Department, PHE and NHS England met with the ovarian cancer charities on 16 June and it was agreed that they would continue to work with the ovarian charities to keep the ovarian regional campaign under review and to explore how we can increase public awareness of ovarian cancer.   On 23 June I spoke at the Target Ovarian Cancer event in Parliament in order to help raise awareness of this cancer and its symptoms.

Psychiatry: Waiting Lists

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for talking therapies.

George Freeman: This year we are implementing the first ever waiting time standards for mental health. These will ensure that the majority of adults who need referral for talking therapies will be treated by the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme within six weeks, with a maximum wait of 18 weeks.

Health Services

Mrs Flick Drummond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans the Government has to increase capacity in general practice and primary care.

George Freeman: On 19 June, the Secretary of State set out the first stages of a New Deal for General Practice, including:   ‒ an estimated 5,000 more doctors working in general practice by 2020; ‒ investing £1 billion over four years in infrastructure and £150 million through the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund; and ‒ reducing bureaucracy to release capacity.

Accident and Emergency Departments: General Practitioners

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the level of ease of access to GPs on attendances at A&E departments.

Ben Gummer: The Urgent and Emergency Care Review identified a number of factors that impact on accident and emergency (A&E) attendances, which can include local access to general practitioners (GPs).   According to the latest GP Patient Survey results, published on 2 July 2015, 85.2% of patients were able to get an appointment with a GP or nurse at their surgery. 91.8% of those were able to get an appointment convenient to them. Of the 10.9% who reported that they could not get an appointment and the 8.2% who could not get an appointment that was convenient, 9.9% went to A&E or a walk-in centre.

Community Care

Rishi Sunak: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress the Government has made on integrating and improving care provided outside of hospitals.

Alistair Burt: Through the £5.3 billion Better Care Fund local authorities and the National Health Service are using pooled budgets to deliver integrated care for their local populations.   The NHS is working with 29 vanguard sites across the country as part of the New Care Models programme to support the improvement and integration of services, backed by a £200 million Transformation Fund.

General Practitioners: New Towns

Heidi Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding he is providing for GP practices in new towns.

George Freeman: NHS England has a legal duty to fund the general practitioner (GP) services required to meet the reasonable needs of the population, both in old and new towns.   On 1 July, NHS England, together with Public Health England, launched an initiative to shape strong new communities that promote health and wellbeing, prevent illness and keep people independent.   The initiative is expected to include development of flexible health and care infrastructure that enables integration of GP services with other health and care provision.

Mental Health Services: Children

Amanda Solloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to improve support for children and young people with mental health problems.

Huw Merriman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to improve support for children and young people with mental health problems.

Alistair Burt: We are working to develop seamless and integrated mental health services for children and young people through a major transformation programme backed by additional funding. NHS England are expanding the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme to cover all England by 2018 and, with the Department for Education, developing single points of contact for mental health in schools.

Poverty: Children

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the relationship between poverty in childhood and (a) ill-health and (b) use of the NHS in adulthood.

Jane Ellison: We want all children to have the healthiest start possible in life, and particularly the poorest children. We have strengthened support for mothers, babies and children by increasing the number of Health Visitors and more than doubling the number of places on the Family Nurse Partnership programme. Health is a new theme of the new Troubled Families Programme, in order to improve the physical and mental health of the adults and children in these families.